How Do You See?
I’m sure this time in life has brought on a large array of emotion for a lot of you. Shelter in place as the temporary new norm, face masks as the regular outer wear, pajamas as the new casual business wear. And on the serious side, death feeling closer to home, loss of wages, and the way to provide for family for some completely taken away. 10s of thousands showing up at local food banks. The need higher than seen in recent times. I see all of this and for some reason I still have this comfort in my heart. That despite the awful circumstances that surround us, I keep seeing some really beautiful things. Like really beautiful. I’ve seen people not able to get their nails done, injections in their face, hair color done, or a hair cut. And you may laugh at me for saying this, but I’ve never seen more beauty. I started looking at people and felt like I was seeing them as they were meant to be. Like how they were crafted and it made me tear. We spend so much time trying to hide our natural selves. I being very much at fault for this, but when I see people now, I just see how beautiful they really are. But there’s more. I’ve seen pictures of different places in the world and it feels like Earth has been taking shelter in place as a time to heal. The skies in places where it’s usually covered in smog are now clear. The loud noise of cities has come to a quiet muffle and the quiet is peaceful. Families that don’t live together that may only see each other once or twice a year with occasional phone calls in between are utilizing technology to connect via video conference and playing games, catching up, being silly. Churches brought into the home where more can enjoy. I’ve seen more giving towards neighbors more people providing for those who need help, and more love overall than I’ve seen in a long time. I know one day, shelter in place will be over. We’ll get back to some state of normalcy. I just hope that we can take with us some of what we gained. I hope we continue to connect more frequently, that we still check on our neighbors, that we still provide resources for those in need. I hope we take a pause before we jump to adjust our appearance and just take in the natural beauty as we were made and smile. I hope we see the impact of slowing down and realize maybe it’s not such a bad idea. Maybe when we aren’t required to stay in place that we will find desire to stay in place once a week even just to reflect, slow down, and be joyful for the good that exists.