I started writing this article one year ago. Little did I know, the situation would only escalate & 365 days later we would be looking at the coming of the third wave of infections worldwide. Life most certainly changed for all of us, and time takes its toll, even if slowly and uneventfully. At this point, I just want to pray for all those people struggling today because of the events of the past year. Whether it be physical health or loss or mental health & emotional strain, we all deserve the best in life and this year has been a time of trial & tribulation for everyone around the world. This is a blog entry I began to write just as we ended the first month of the pandemic back in April 2020, without knowing a whole other 12 months were to come…

…I’ve taken a break from my desk at home for over a year now, and have been unsuccessfully trying to make my way back to my writing table. With life handing me lots of reasons to be busy & entertained, I had been considering making 2020 a year of grounding & minimalizing – mentally, spiritually, & physically. Well, little did I know…it was planned accordingly! The situation every single person in the world is living right now is scary, uncontrollable, & will have consequences that will change the way our world used to work. We must come to terms with that in our own ways, as for each person this will mean hardships of different kinds. But in the midst of the despair we feel because of all we are being deprived of right now – number one being our liberty – I want to encourage everyone to take a look on the sunnier side of things.

The year began with great expectations…a new decade, the number 2020, what a time to be alive! For us, as a family, it meant our much awaited family reunion was set to happen & we were thrilled to travel to L.A. in February to see my brother & meet up with the rest of the family. We were lucky, making it there & back just a couple of weeks before the novel Corona Virus hit the West Coast. What a trip! And I can’t wait to tell you all about it, but first, a bit more on the current situation.

As far as 2020 being a year of breakthroughs & developments, there hasn’t been much to report in the past two months other than the massive hysteria that COVID has brought to our lives. We had never really lived a pandemic in modern times, not one where the whole wide world was concerned. There have been, indeed, terrible situations where the world had come together for a common cause or for support & aid, but never had every single country & every single person had to suffer the common fear of a tiny little bacteria reaching their surroundings and paralyzing their entire social & economic structure, as we as citizens of functioning societies knew it.

This was big. This is big. The facts & the numbers don’t lie; this is a dangerous situation and the worst, in my opinion, is yet to come. While many complain about their freedom being taken away, others cry about their jobs being lost, many mourn their loved ones passing away, & sadly enough many still mope about their social lives being put on hold, about flights being cancelled, the supermarkets being raided, or the toilet paper aisle still being empty. I read a quote that made me realize how very little empathy we have when dealing with difficult situations as a human race, and it goes something like this: “we are not on the same boat, we are on the same ocean…some of us in yachts, others in rafts, others with a lifesaver buoy, and so many more are simply swimming for their lives with all their might.”

It hit a cord, and it makes me weep deep inside for those of us who ache & struggle, whatever reason it may be. This situation will not be easy for anybody, and everyone is allowed to mourn in their own way for their own personal motives, pain is pain. And although the entire situation has a set a cloud of doom over us, I can’t help but compare it to my forbidden sunny outdoors. As Spring makes its way into our life here in the northern hemisphere, I can only compare it to the worldwide situation right now. How about encouraging everyone to see this moment as their own personal Spring, aligning ourselves to that magical energy that permeates the natural world in order to facilitate our own transition through these hard times.

“A light exists in Spring, not present in the year, when March is scarcely here. A distinctive color stands abroad on solitary fields, which science cannot overtake, but our human nature feels. This light waits upon the lawn, it shows the furthest tree, upon the furthest slope you know, it almost speaks to you. Then as horizons step or noons report away without the formula of sound, time passes and we stay behind…” – A Light Exists in Spring, by Emily Dickinson, explains how our human heart is alive to things which science & technology can merely understand – which only emphasizes the truth we should open our eyes to: scientifically analyzing & understanding the natural world with technology is not nearly as important as keeping the bond of our own human interaction with the natural world strong & healthy. Spring is the season of hope & renewal when, encouraged by the increase of light & warmth, we find the energy to take that necessary action to push a tentative new beginning into full awakening.

We are coming to the end of a season of sorrow with COVID numbers falling & things slowly making their way back to ‘normal’. Now’s our chance to allow the winds of Spring to wash away the residue of grief. If this was like a Winter season of sickness, let the freshness of a Spring season restore us to health; if it was like a Winter season of loss, notice the new life & rebirths that surround us; and if it was a Winter season of silence, invite the birds of Spring to bring song back into our life; if it was a season of hopelessness, connect to the perennial signs of hope that rise up in the natural world. The link between mankind & the natural world has been lost to today’s advanced world, and our human nature could probably use this small break to come together again. –

The Spring of 2021 slowly creeps back to remind us of a time of rebirth, with not much having had changed in the past year, it’s only getting harder & harder to keep the hopes up, which is why the most important thing right now is to be kind to everyone. We never know what storm people are battling with and we are in no position to make it worse for them in this very delicate time. Hugs out to everyone who needs one!