As many of us find our busy schedules cleared because of the COVID-19 Pandemic upon us, we’ve kept busy doing things we’ve pushed to the back burner. Random closets cleaned? Check. Bins and bins of clothes dropped off to be donated? Check. Junk drawer cleaned out? Maybe not…but looks like I’ll have plenty of time to check it off my list.
Normally, if I have to choose between painting and admin stuff, I’ll push that admin stuff as far back on the list as I can. But with all of this “down” time, I have no excuse but to cross some of it off my list. I knew I was overdue to update my website galleries and write a blog post, but I had no idea it’s been nearly a YEAR since my last one! The irony of it all is that the message of that last post rings true in a very profound new way, in light of the current pandemic situation.
“Don’t let life happen to you.”
It’s so easy to get caught up in the ever changing news of the day, peppered with scary headlines, doomsday predictions and sad realizations of events and milestones lost. I find myself hopeless in times like these and unable to sit still and watch as life happens. I need to be doing something positive, even if it is a small gesture. The other day I went for a walk and took a trash bag with me, picking up the random bottles and litter along the roads edge. I’ve run a few errands for elderly neighbors housebound during this mess. I let a gentleman behind me in line jump ahead because he really didn’t want to be out buying groceries but had to be. I made cinnamon french toast for my girls first day back to school, albeit online, hoping to ease the transition and inevitable nerves as they embark on this new reality.
Little things.
But it’s these little things, these little positive moments, that give us hope and keep us going. It’s these little messages of “I love you” that give us purpose in these crazy, helpless days. There is so much negativity in the news, but if you look closely, there is so much good happening too. People making masks for hospitals and first responders, neighbors watching out for one another, businesses donating goods and services for the cause, families outside together, people connecting via social media, spring emerging. Look for the good things. Do good things, even if they are small. Be a reason someone smiles today.
I find myself feeling a little guilty because while our lives are turned upside down and my kids’ school years are cut short, I am loving having everyone at the dinner table again every night. Despite huge disappointments of events being canceled, I am thankful for some much needed and unexpected down time together. And while this crazy virus full of unknowns circles around us, I am beyond grateful for our continued good health, something I have never taken for granted, and continue to truly giving thanks for every day.
I hope when my kids look back on this time (their ‘I walked two miles to school in snow, uphill’ moment) with their own kids, they will focus on all these little good things happening around us. I also hope they will be inspired to look for the good amidst the adversity. And if they can’t find it, look from within and create it. And I really hope they figure out that the kitchen sink does not have magical powers to empty itself. Too soon??