May
Spring is in full bloom
The smell of rain
Flowers awakening
The world is out of hibernation
Tentatively taking its first steps
Stepping forward into the sun
The sun draws life out to bask in its rays
The sky opens up to bring life
Fresh
Fragrant
Freedom
Chantal Plowman
May is an invitation to life. Newborn animals and plants flourish in the sun's increasing heat. May is beautiful, filled with tulips, lilacs and cherry blossoms. May is for margaritas on Cinco de Mayo. May is for mothers, so deserving of gratitude and celebration. May is for memories, of Queen Victoria or war heroes. May is for gardening and picnics and hiking. May is a month for opening up to the joys of summer.
This is a different May than most years. All over the world, there are tentative steps being taken to return to a life that resembles the life we knew before. And yet the return to that life will take time; how much time we don't know. It is possible that life will never be exactly the same. In fact, it is almost certain it won't be the same. For life is continually evolving. Life for my children is very different from my life as a child and I expect the same will be true for the next generation. So there is no point in longing for things to be exactly the same as they were before.The important thing is to preserve the things that are most important. It takes some thoughtful examination to determine what is essential. What are the things we need in order to live beautiful and fulfilling lives?
One thing that I feel is essential is connection. My experience from these past weeks in isolation has made that abundantly clear to me. I am grateful for technology in providing so many new ways for us to stay connected in a time when we were not allowed to connect in the ways that we normally do. I am inspired and impressed with the creative ways people found to stay connected to family, friends and their community. Some people sang on their balconies. Others made hilarious videos to share with the world and brighten our dampened spirits. Some people had virtual cocktail parties, birthdays, holiday celebrations using Zoom, FaceTime, Skype or other similar platforms. I just completed an online writer's retreat weekend with over 100 people on a Zoom chat for 8+ hours for 3 days, while we were all writing at the same time. Some people commented in the closing group chat that they could feel the energy of the other people and it helped them with their writing.
And with my appreciation for all of these creative ways of connecting, I know that I have missed connecting with people in person. I'm not sure what the difference is, but there seems to be a unique kind of energy that comes from being in the live presence of people. So as we, the world, start taking baby steps to emerge from social isolation, I want to focus on my feeling of gratitude for even small opportunities to connect with people in real life again.
This journey out of isolation and into a new and unfamiliar world will be challenging. There are still so many uncertainties. There have been many losses and there are sure to be more. Loss of lives, loss of dreams, of businesses, of livelihoods, of possessions and plans. We will be learning how to operate our lives in new ways. Change is challenging. Not many of us love making changes, especially if we liked the old way of doing things. So my question for this month is, how would you like to be with change?
You can resist change, but that is likely to be painful. You can embrace it, play with it, enjoy it. For myself, I am choosing to be grateful for change. I want to approach this next month with a spirit of gratitude for any steps I can take toward more freedom and more connection. And I also want to find ways to be grateful for this new emerging world and how I will need to change to adapt. I am going to do this by keeping a journal for the month of things I am grateful for and also new things I have learned and ways that I have changed.
How would you like to approach change this month? What is one action you might take to help you with your approach. Please share anything you would like in the comments below, in our Weekly ONE Thing Facebook Group or on Facebook or any other social media.Your successes and challenges can inspire other people. I look forward to reading your posts!
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