SUNNYSIDE UP MOMENT - APRIL 24, 2020

DAY THIRTY-NINE OF THE CORONAVIRUS SHUTDOWN FOR US AT STACK 'EM HIGH PANCAKES AND SO FORTH

The surface of the globe has been dappled with viral hotspots since the close of last year.  Populations from Wuhan to Seattle to Milan to New York City have been shaken to the core.  And while containment measures have affected everyone, the depth and breadth of suffering has been vastly different for these unfortunate areas.  I would not and could not begin to describe what that experience has been like. 

Initially, here in our little haven on the coast, the pandemic certainly turned our world upside down.  The massive disruptions in our schedules, routines and daily movements were unnerving and frightening.  Adrenalin seemed to be the only thing propelling us through that first week of quarantine.  But from a world turned upside down we discovered some pleasant surprises.  Our altered perception made way for alternative ways of working, learning and connecting.  Yes, up was down and down was up but we were still intact.

With the thirty-day mark well behind us, people seem to be hitting the proverbial wall.  Instead of making our way in a world turned upside down, we are turning ourselves inside out.  Our deepest, darkest fears, anxieties and emotions have been exposed.  The bizarre and extraordinary circumstances have lost their peculiar allure.  Our eagerness to reclaim what has been lost has exploded into a million little pieces.

Like a phoenix, we can rise from these splintered slivers of ourselves.  We may not be able to resurrect the exact lives we used to lead.  However, we can construct a way forward that glistens with the embers of days past and shines with the promise of days to come.  Maya Angelou once said, “I can be changed by what happens to me.  But I refuse to be reduced by it.”  It’s okay if we hit a wall, but we need to believe that there is life and light on the other side.