The Things We Take for Granted
The great gift of losing something unexpectedly is realizing how much it is missed and how you assumed it would always be there. In the case of 2020, we lost everyday life.
Even those who chose to gather in large groups without masks had to feel and know that it was somehow different; and perhaps some if not all had a little gnawing doubt, that little niggling feeling, in the back of their mind or in their gut, that they were putting themselves or others at risk. Probably all knew that they were making a statement of belief, so it was no ordinary experience.
For most, what was not even a second thought in 2019 or the first couple of months of 2020—going to the grocery store, going to school or work, sports events, singing in a group, attending a movie or a concert, shopping in the malls, standing in line, travel, having a dinner party with friends, restaurants, weddings, funerals, visiting parents, and family gatherings—suddenly became unattainable “past life” memories.
The other day I watched a video of a flash mob at a grocery store. People were shopping, and they weren’t even wearing masks. When suddenly a rather large man standing in the produce section opened his mouth wide and began to sing “Finiculi, Finicula” and slowly individual shoppers throughout the store joined in chorus.
I watched nostalgically, thinking to myself, “That was so 2019.”
Knowing what is missing brings powerful feelings, a Niagara Falls of awareness, of what we have taken for granted. Gratitude for all those ordinary, wondrous, human interactions becomes hindsight, and an opportunity—an INVITATION—for foresight.
Shall we take this invitation for the New Year and hold this “future life” in our IMAGINATION, that not only will our ability to be with others safely, any time we want, any way we want, to travel, to embrace, but will be greatly enhanced—maybe even enchanted?
May we hold in our IMAGINATION and proclaim that because:
We now know how valuable are the things we ordinarily take for granted
How grateful we will be for their return
That:
We accept our responsibilities for their existence
We will care for each other and the Earth
We will accept and celebrate our differences
We will lay down our animosities, our weapons, our territorial instincts, and…
Accept that we are one giant family.
And we will do this not only because we can, but because we must, if we ever intend to not only survive on this planet, but to
THRIVE!
Photo credits from Pexels.com
Dress without a head fotografierende
Lost Shadows Cameron Readius
Gathering Wendy Wei
Concert Ingo Joseph
Men playing game Şahin Sezer Dinçer
Group hug fauxels