A glance at the headlines locally and beyond tells us that we are not out of the woods…yet.
Keep at it with your best practices. Keep heart. No pandemic has lasted 2 years. We are intervening with this one like no time in history. It’s nerve-racking, but the big picture is that we are moving steadily through.
…and some day soon we are going to be able look back at the pandemic in the rear view mirror.
It’s going feel good.
Some day after that the neighbor’s kid will probably come around looking to interview us for her news show and wanting to tell her audience (her baby brother) what it was like living through the pandemic of 2020.
I’m anticipating it for us. We should be prepared.
Here’s the rough outline we can use for the interview.We can tell her that the learner in us is the part of us that thrived.
Learners know that challenge is opportunity, and that loss is a prerequisite to growth. After all, learning is moving into something new. Learners resist regretting adversity’s arrival and resolve themselves to taking it on, to learning the lesson!
Plus, learners know you can’t learn without really caring. Our lives are an opportunity to love our world, and first and foremost the way we do that is with our senses.
What does that mean tangibly?
This big step in learning is to take a deep interest, and to observe wholeheartedly. Drink up the details of the person across from you or the new flower in the yard. We all need to practice this artistic sensibility.
Learners then know to remove themselves from the observation. They strive to see not what the observed means to them but to see what and who the observed are in and of themselves.
We do this in spite of all of the complexity we feel around us. Learners resolve not get caught up in judging the world.
Selfless devotion to what’s before us… that’s the way of the Learned and that’s what we will tell the neighbor’s kid.
We are going to really impress her and her brother!
We can always review it again if we need to.
Hearty welcome to Spring!
And let’s give a nod to the burgeoning Spring season and the spring equinox this weekend.
The sun’s forces are changing, growing stronger. The earth thaws, and its life forces expand outward. We are in a new classroom suddenly with a new teacher. Spring has always represented a new beginning and has inspired humans to think of renewal and hope.
We see now the first signs of spring in the northern hemisphere-a small step outward. The Southern Hemisphere’s autumn is just starting. A reciprocal inwards movement of earth’s living forces is happening there.The poles of the earth inspire us to think beyond our scope, knowing that in another place there is a balance to our experience. We are part of a larger system. But don’t let the largeness fool you, your movements have big impacts. YOU MATTER.The perspective we seek and refine as learners influences our ability to navigate our challenges, and in turn influences the whole system. When you get stuck you find there the chance to find a new approach. Better and better understanding makes us more resilient. More resilient and connected individuals make a healthy whole!
We can tell the young reporters that live in our heads that learning and selflessly caring for each other and paying close attention is what gives us the most peace.
He knows it!
This week’s stats
Global COVID-19 Cases Rise for Third Week in a Row. In its latest snapshot of pandemic activity, cases rose 10% last week globally with upticks across several regions, the World Health Organization (WHO) said, reflecting the different scenarios effecting different regions.
Our national average of daily new cases remains favorable with 50,000 cases per day over the 7 day average. No uptick nationally as of present time. 50,000 is similar to last week.
Local new cases in the county jumped from 50 last week to 125 over the most recent 7 days. Be smart, stay well ventilated, use masks, avoid the crowds.