When I posted the blog The Big Behind, it was because the year we had prior to this one was filled with personal hardships and losses – one right after the other, over, and over……and over. Many people in our life would attempt to encourage us by saying that this new year had nowhere to go but up.
Without trying to be cynical, I told them to beware of that thought. There is no magic in a number, or the flip of one day being New Year’s Eve to the next being New Year’s day. Life still happens.
And it is happening now in a way that I’ve never seen, and no longer are we experiencing just private trials. This is worldwide. And it’s not just this historical pandemic. It’s racism. And violence. And inequality. And politics. And violent protests. And debates. And relationship strains. And loss. And death. And numerous kinds of epidemics that span the world in the most provocative way.
It doesn’t matter which political party you support, or even what country you live in. ‘Pandemic’, they call it. Well, I suppose we all call it that now - this contagion that has affected each one of us - whether we have contracted it or not.
Isolate yourselves. Don’t be together in groups. Wear a mask and cover your face. Social distance. Don’t go out. Close your businesses.
New spikes. Partisan. Controversy. Challenge.
It has created a Divide of Togetherness, an Isolation of Fellowship.
Have you heard of the prolific book, Around the World in 80 Days?
If you haven’t, let me fill you in on at least part of the plot: Phileas Fogg is a rich British gentleman living in solitude. Despite his wealth, Fogg lives a modest life with habits carried out with mathematical precision. Very little can be said about his social life other than that he is a member of the Reform Club, where he spends much of every day.
Sound familiar? We are IN a fog, and, for the most of us, NOT wealthy but definitely living in solitude. In spite of and / or because of our situation, we live modest lives with habits carried out with a new-normal precision. Very little can be said about our social lives other than that we are in a pandemic and ordered to stay home, where we spend much of every day.
Side note: The Reform Club was, until 1981, a club for men only. No coincidence that systemic inequality, yet another epidemic, rears its ugly head in my analogy.
Oh sure. We’re opening back up now. Because everything had to shut down. But what are we opening back up TO? We have since seen another spike in cases and even in deaths.
Yet we have realized our dream of toilet paper on the shelves enough for everyone again. We are now allowed to buy enough chicken to start our own coop if we wanted to. We are back to having what we want when we want it and how often we want it, and never feeling satiated. Which still leaves us feeling anxious, sad, angry, or even despair.
It all can feel hopeless to be in humanitarian crisis and universal disparity. There is a strange vulnerability and sense of feeling fragile in that. At least I hope so.
My thought process in that hope lies in something better going viral, spreading worldwide. Not the propagation of disease, or the fear of abuse or discrimination. Not intolerance or political fervor. Not entitlement or privilege.
I want for us, as a people, to remember what this year has been like. Where each new calamity had us, and the susceptibility that rose in us like a wildfire. If we forget or try to put it behind us, we will not have grown through it, because without learning from our past, our future is daunting.
There is a path to hope during the chaos of it all. You can find peace and purpose in this one life we’ve been given no matter what the situation.
Focus on what is good around you and don’t let the negative lodge itself within. How to do that? Profoundly count your blessings! We tend to put what is positive on a shelf and let it collect dust when the hard times seem to be raging.
I am not implying that we shouldn’t be awake and aware to what is plaguing us as a society. Nor am I trying to translate finding joy through it all into ignoring it or blocking it all out. I am not saying that we don’t truly suffer through losses and personal trials.
I am, however, saying to seek out a deeper love and appreciation of humanity – go ahead and stand up for what you believe in. I am also saying to feel empathy and compassion for what is happening to someone else by putting the shoe, worn out as it may be, on your own foot – especially if you expect the same grace from others as troubles arise in your own life. I am saying that growth, development, and understanding can only come through forging through tough times.
It’s an easy path to follow when we allow negativity to embed itself, and it takes discipline to find the joy through each circumstance. Stop what you're doing - even if it's just for a moment - close your eyes and breathe slowly. Test yourself by naming at least three things you're grateful for. Is it your health? Your family? Your faith?
Not one thing is greater than the other when it comes to blessings. They are sanctioned by how you view them. Let that perspective be the plague that takes over your mind, your body, and your spirit. Let that be the positive test result you live with. Let that be what you pass along to others so they, too, can share in the boons of that particular epidemic. Let it be CONTAGIOUS.
And perhaps that’s the story that will go viral.
