I always love Sundays…
especially slow, quiet, sunny sundays.
Blue sky.
No wind.
Birds singing, snow melting..
sounds of spring.

It is a little hard to stay positive right now.
People are stressed out, people are scared.
It’s hard to avoid the news, the fear,
the negativity…
and every time I turn around there is a Facebook post
shaming people for this, judging people for that,
jumping to assumptions, snapping photos of people to shame online
without even knowing their story,
spreading anger, fear, outrage, panic, and hurtful, possibly harmful misinformation.

It’s hard to stay positive right now.

But I went for an hour long walk today
and yes, as I met people, we moved away from each other,
giving a wide berth to pass
but we also called out things like
”Beautiful day, eh?” and “Nice to see that sun!”

and then I came home and saw little purple flowers
growing in the front yard.

There was a bbq happening on the front deck
and the kids across the street played badminton
in the middle of the road. Our neighbors
washed their cars, people waved as they walked by
with their dogs and chickadees landed
right outside my window.

And I reminded myself that I have to stop letting
the manic-panic parts of the pandemic
get to me.
I can’t control how other people respond,
but I can control what I allow in,
what I allow myself to absorb
and I am choosing right now to find
stillness and sweetness in silence,
to sit in the sunny spot on the deck with a book…
to write in a journal, watch a good movie,
start seeds for my garden, check in with friends & family,
to not only find calm for myself but to try to be
a bright spot in someone else’s day if I can…
share a funny story,
talk about books i am loving,
post photos of pugs with snaggletooth smiles…

This is not at all what I meant to write here today.
But, honestly, I feel a little bit better now that I did.
I hope you do, too.
big virtual hugs, you. ♥
we got this.