Monday, January 18, 2021

How in the World Did We Get Here?


Just checking in.  This is where I sit and watch the news when I am not watching Elmo or Daniel Tiger.  My days are filled with my girls, my family and a weekly shopping trip to the grocery.  Since March of last year, things have not changed much here, but the world, well. just for historical sake, a raging pandemic, an assault on our nations capital, a inauguration in our nations capital that looks like a war zone.  Without the comfort of two strong arms around me, I am left to face this all, and it's been hard.  Still my spirit has not been broken.  I have hope that our future will be better.  There is a new administration, one that cares.  The vaccine, though mismanaged, is still a wonderful thing.  I would like to think being the ripe old age I am that it will be available to me soon.  We as a family have followed the rules.  I was alone for Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.  On Christmas Eve we all wore masks and opened the windows to be together.  Seven adults and three children.  We had a great time together, and missed the whole family that always gathers here each Christmas Eve..

I hope that all of you have been weathering the storms around us.  

"A good friend of mine said, "You are married to sorrow." And I looked at him and said, "I am not married to sorrow. I just choose not to look away."
And I think there is deep beauty in not averting our gaze.
No matter how hard it is, no matter how heartbreaking it can be. It is about presence. It is about bearing witness.
I used to think bearing witness was a passive act. I don't believe that anymore. I think that when we are present, when we bear witness, when we do not divert our gaze, something is revealed—the very marrow of life. We change. A transformation occurs. Our consciousness shifts.
     —Terry Tempest Williams 

We will all be forever changed by the events of the last year. Hopefully for the better, more resilient more compassionate and more appreciative of life.

Thank you for stopping by and for your patience and kindness to me.
Love, Penny