August 18, 2020 <– This date, as in this very day as I write, was supposed to be SO MANY THINGS.
In another universe, in BC (Before COVID-19), my 2 youngest sons would be driving off to school, the first day of Colby’s Senior Year and Dillon’s Sophomore Year. The house would likely be eerily quiet following the first day preparations and hustle-bustle as they left the house. I would be feeling really sentimental like, “awwww, this is the last year they’ll drive to school together”…and feeling really EXCITED like, yay! Back to the school routine with real-feel responsibilities and all those great new school supplies. And friends and new teachers! Like every other year before 2020.
Well, yes, it’s quite quiet here today, this morning, but only because those 2 boys are still SLEEPING. There is no 1st day of school today on Aug 18th. (The 1st day of school will be Sept 8th — remote learning “for 3 weeks…” We shall see)
I am feeling so many things this day, Aug 18th, 2020. It started yesterday afternoon.
As a born-this-way empath, sometimes I get the “global pain feels” and I can’t turn it off. There is so much pain now, and more pain en route. And I say all this from a comfortable, climate-controlled, safe, stocked, secure and loving home.
Yet all the feels are coming. I’m not doing enough. I want to save everything and everyone.
I want to turn back the clock to undo the practices that led us as a society to disregard our planet’s long-term health in the name of “progress”. Also to undo the practices that led us as a society to marginalize people based on their skin color. And to undo the practices that led us to marginalize women as any less capable as men. And to undo the practices that led us to marginalize anyone based on characteristics that they were born with. And to undo the practices that led one society to hate another society so much that they fight and fight for centuries…I could go on & on…
I know. That’s a tall order, Ryan. Too tall. Too big. Too unrealistic.
But it’s how I feel. I ache for the past, the present and the future.
I ache for those parents who would have been sending their little oh-so-ready darlings off to the first day of Kindergarten. What a milestone! The year I sent my third child to Kinder was the only year all 3 boys walked together to attend the same school (K, 2nd, and 5th) and what a glorious year that was. I looked forward to it BIG TIME. I’d earned it! I loved it.
If that had been taken away from me (and them, of course), I would be at such an angry loss right now, today, August 18th, for so many reasons.
Mamas, daddies, caregivers: wow. It’s okay. Let’s all feel this together.
To be honest, I’m still feeling the sadness for the Class of 2020 and all that they missed due to the pandemic.
The P-A-N-D-E-M-I-C.
WE ARE IN A PANDEMIC. Holy freakin’ shizz, y’all. It’s like we are living in a real-life dystopian (prophetic?) novel. Or The Lorax by Dr. Seuss, such a brilliant author.
I know, I know, it’s not new news…but it’s no less impactful to think it, feel it, shake our heads in wonder at it. We are in it. We ALL are.
Mother Earth is speaking. Why are we not listening????
Why are we not acting????
Buying loads of masks, hand sanitizer and toilet paper is NOT acting. It’s disrupting! Do you have 100 rolls of tp and your neighbor has barely enough? What’s that about??
It’s going to take A LOT MORE people acting in small, helpful ways. IMPORTANT DISTINCTION: It’s not about a FEW people doing all things perfectly. It’s about the masses and how massive action affects change.
Communities are so incredibly powerful. (think about the failed Trump rally LOL)
But I’m talking about YOUR community. Your physical one. Where you live. Remember that one?
We are all so online all the time, but what about your neighbor? How are they doing? How can you bridge gaps from your front door to theirs?
I don’t have all the answers. But I encourage YOU to seek, identify, and then act in ways that you can, those that you can sleep better on.
Heavy, I know. That’s what pandemics do, I guess.
