It feels a little bit as if the world is returning to its axis......beginning to spin in a more normal way.....things returning to a more normal flow as the pandemic settles.....It feels kind of amazing:)......to think that maybe we have found our way through this challenge, at least the big parts......and that we will learn to live with Covid.....and that we need not have it consume our entire lives......or a significant part of it......anymore.......and that maybe life will flow back to some of what we remembered......I wrote recently about not ever wanting to return to the speed at which I was living previously......that the slowing down of my life, a forced one......was perhaps the most giant blessing of Covid and that I will never go back to that......however seeing my friends often, and doing social things.....and seeing people's smiling faces, out from behind our masks......is something I am so happy about......feeling connected to one another again......moving forward in our lives.......having conferences yesterday and last night was a step.....meeting with people in person....face to face.....all new and exciting to do again.....I think perhaps our most profound lesson in all this......is that we NEED people.....we need each other, and that connecting with one another is part of our human experience, and the absence of it, is felt far and wide.......I know my students share that.....they have missed so much of what they have lost these past couple of years.....I remember last year's class fantasizing about the day that they could burn their masks for good......and perhaps the day is close.....it sure feels that way, and looks that way.....and for some people it is here.......and I am so happy for all of them......I worry about them long term......their young minds.....finding a place to carry this memory and experience with them as they grow......where they will put it......what impact will it have on them long term.......I see so many effects on a regular basis.....ones that are in the here and now.......but I wonder long term what we will see.......what impact will we see as they grow? Hard to say.......I am hoping it will help them carry resilience and hope.....and triumph......and an understanding that we cannot control what happens in our lives......but that we can do our best to cope with what is in front of us.......Madeline said to me the other day that her dad left her when she was only 4, and that she hadn't been alive that long......and that that part of her life is hard.......and it hurt my heart to hear her say that....... I validated her feelings........telling her that I understood......and that I was sorry, her dad and I never intended for this to be the case.......and that we both love she and Gabe fiercely......but I also told her that we don't get to choose what comes to find us in this life......that the hard stuff that comes, is not up to us.....and that every family has hard stuff......and that this is our hard stuff.....and that the only power we have is in how we face the challenges that come.......she seemed to like that and said she was happy in her life and that she liked the life we have created......and my little girl has lived through her dad leaving, and a global pandemic at six......and I could focus on how unfair and awful that is.......or I could just focus on the fact that the human spirit is something......she is a wise, strong, inspired, jouyful little chick.......and has so many blessings in her life that have surrounded her.......and so has Gabe.......they both have been so great through all that has come......and that is all we can hope as adversity finds us.......so I am cautiously optimistic as the Covid numbers drop......as things settle some......and always looking forward with hope in my heart......because it is true that all storms run out of rain:) Looking for rainbows!
jperuso
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