Life Goes On
A chilly breeze pushes against me and I pull my collar up and snuggle deeper into my warm jacket as I walk among the cascading flurries of tree blossoms. May is living on the edge, not quite ready to take the plunge into spring and summer. I teeter along with it not always knowing if I want to look forward or back.
Despite the societal changes around me, life goes on or doesn’t in the case of an old friend who suddenly died in his sleep with no warning. With our thoughts so wrapped up in continuous information and guidelines as we live a new reality, it’s hard to wrap our minds around the everyday that keeps happening. With this death, I’m jolted back to life. We still all have our struggles and our joys as we walk alongside this virus. We still follow our human paths.
In my household, life has not changed much and maybe it’s because we have never subscribed to the herd mentality. Over the years, circumstances forced us to think outside of the box. I had a typical job and relied on it for our needs. But from one day to the next, I was fired. We soon found out that that “herd” only looked out for its own and, once thrown out, we had to fend for ourselves. So we focused on our creative energies and dreams and built a life apart from the herd. We asked the hard questions: what do we really need? How can we simplify? What do we truly value in this life we lead? And we moved forward, free from the herd.
These days, in a similar way, we continue to focus on the essential. Each day, we live out the good life as best we can. We make wonderful meals with simple ingredients. We pursue those things which give us life and breath: baking and instrument building and daily walks. We keep our dreams at the forefront: one of us is building a teardrop camper, the other one is drumming up a grilled cheese business…
In any before and after event, I’ve found it useful to question again the path I’ve taken and think through again what matters according to my inner self, keeping the outside voices around me at bay. The “shoulds” are not allowed yet, only a full unveiling of what are my dreams and possibilities, an honest look at where I am. I check in again with my priorities and my values. What do I want this life to look like while I have it?
Today, still reeling from our friend’s death, I choose again the path that matters to me and try to not be distracted from it. When I’m least expecting it, a light will shine through and show me the way. And each day alive, I want to move forward, simply, focused on the beauty, love and hope each hour brings.
