BLUE SKIES AND SUNSHINE

Today started very foggy and unusually mild in Atlanta, my home now. I returned after 3 ½ wonderful years living in Asheville, NC. And it was family, not climate, that brought me back. That move occurred just three weeks ago. But with the coronavirus outbreak in this country, those three weeks feel more like three years.  

The sun has shone from blue skies a scant five or fewer days in those past three weeks. So where has it gone? Nowhere, of course. Our earth is still circling the sun, just as it always has. The difference is our ability, or inability, to see it through the clouds, rain, fog, and other similar conditions that obscure its brilliance.

I find this “disappearance” of our sun a wonderful metaphor for what we’re facing right now. While I don’t view the coronavirus as a cataclysmic event, which has some folks hoarding (everything from toilet tissue to guns!), I certainly acknowledge the seriousness of the situation and the need and responsibility every one of us has to minimize contact and take every preventative measure and procedure we can.

That said, the sunshine and blue skies WILL return. Most of us realize that our climate is changing, quickly and drastically. Winter meshes with spring, and spring sees temps more often associated with summer. But what’s with all the clouds and rain? A lot can be explained with various weather fronts and activity climatologists can demonstrate via computers and the like. But our failure to see, and thus enjoy, sunny days may have psychological implications that are in our power to influence. So what’s that all about?

As I’ve watched, via the media, the rapid spread of the coronavirus since first detected (or so the Chinese claim) in Hunan province in November 2019, it continues to affect more and more of U.S. citizens and our families. Our grey skies reflect, so to speak, our collective mood as we become overwhelmed with a dilemma that seems beyond our control. And as our economy seems to be in free-fall.

I, like so many, lean into my faith at times like these – and frankly, ALL the time. I believe we are ALL connected; we’re ONE. And one way life is demonstrating that these days is via the spread of this deadly virus. Not the preferable way, for certain. In times of crises past – usually, AFTER the crisis has passed - whether a hurricane, earthquake, fire, or what have you – we come together. We always see communities of resources and people individually and collectively helping others who have suffered a loss. And we’re seeing this generosity of spirit even now, at this early stage of the pandemic in our country. You don’t have to look far to observe people reaching out in support of those in need.

The sun is still shining; you just have to look a little harder to see it these days. WE ARE ALL ONE. And as we reach out in LOVE to share, to support, to connect - not just with each other here in the USA, but with our brothers and sisters around the globe - WE WILL OVERCOME. UNITY, not divisiveness, is the answer. The sun never truly goes anywhere; it just seems to shine less right now than “normal.” And we’re undoubtedly experiencing the beginning of a NEW NORMAL. How that will look and how our lives will operate from this day forward is up to us – individually as well as collectively.

I’m one the seniors who’ve been heeding the call to “shelter in place.” For me, that place is a wonderful, cozy, beautiful home I share with my loving and joy-filled Springer-doodle. I go out to walk with her every day; and we go to the store when, and only when, we REALLY need something. This self-contained way of living certainly offers more time for self-reflection, as well as reflecting on the bigger picture. And as I listen to the news and read newspapers and science articles on-line, I always !!! seek to find the proverbial silver lining in these cloudy skies.

And it’s there! We just have to work harder these days to see it. I hope you will join me in affirming that this global pandemic will ultimately bring us all closer to the many positive ways love operates. Choose to know that blue skies are returning – and they’ll return sooner when we learn the lessons this global crisis can teach us.

In the meantime, I send you LOVE enfolded in blue skies and sunshine!