It caught me in the quiet whisper of awareness, as we turned the bend on our walk today.
Since mid-March when the quarantine limited outdoor activity to national social distancing, we have been taking this opportunity to discover the trails and parks available for safe and peaceful exercise.
One site in particular, a town park with trails and boardwalks, is often our go-to place, especially if the forecast is ‘iffy’ or our time limited. Today, for some reason, as we set off as usual passing birds, squirrels and chipmunks, I was caught by surprise. We rounded the bend and I was greeted by a familiar tree. I KNEW this path, and it was as if I was being greeted by nature as we passed.
While every hike has been a gift for the soul, this moment offered me an insight I wasn’t expecting.
Each of us is on a different bend of this quarantine trail of life. But one thing we share is the uncertainty ahead.
Whether we are essential workers, unexpectantly unemployed, standing in food lines, missing loved ones, mourning the loss of someone we could not say goodbye to in the way we have grown accustomed to, attempting to cut our own hair, struggling alone or enduring overcrowded circumstances…. One thing we share is we “don’t know if and when this will be over…”
Familiar. It is an image that is changing before our eyes, as we wonder what tomorrow will look like. It makes us uneasy, sad, angry and often sleepless.
We want things to “go back to normal” but we wonder if there IS a normal anymore.
Our eyes have been opened to some “bigger pictures” of the world as a whole, and we would be hard pressed to keep our heads in the sand.
That familiar tree on my walk was like seeing an old friend. I thought about all the “old things” we want so that we can feel normal.
Then I wonder if ‘normal‘ is as important as ‘changed.’ Life “before the quarantine” may not be the reality we need to ache for…
I wonder what it will take for us to step out of our comfort zone as a human race and resolve to put our best foot forward.
The path is before us… we need to decide which turns to take. Maybe some will be familiar. Perhaps more will lead us in unknown directions, but ultimately new horizons which will become our new familiar.
I didn’t always recognize or “know” that landmark tree around the bend. It became familiar and welcoming the more times I took the path.
What paths are we being called to take to make our new norm best for all? This is a hard question with hard answers. Yet I cannot not get excited for its possibilities.
One thing I know for sure. familiar will no longer bring the same comfort and sense of well-being I once relied on. This precipice of choice can make a difference that the norm of the past never could. It may not be familiar, but it has promise.
