I can’t believe it’s been almost a year since we all went on the same, unexpected journey. A journey, oddly enough, of staying put. Of not traveling, not visiting others, not exploring or vacationing or getting away.
It’s been tough. Okay, tough doesn’t begin to cover it. When a trip to the grocery store is both a vacation and a dangerous expedition, life is, as the saying goes, stranger than fiction.
Some of us have learned how to work from home, alone, with no one to bounce ideas off of, no co-workers to inspire or annoy us. Some of us have been juggling our social, family, and professional lives, hoping our zoom links will work and that we won’t accidentally join with video when our toddler is running through the living room naked or with audio, when the dog is humping his favorite toy which just happens to be one of those squeaky rubber pigs.
It has been a year of resilience and fear. Mostly, it’s sucked, but if there’s one thing I’m very grateful for, it’s that long distance phone calls are free.
Anyway, in this world of walls we are currently living in, just thought I’d share a few words. Not mine, mind you. But words always help me make it through.
“In solitude, where we are least alone.” Lord Byron
“Loneliness is the poverty of self, solitude is the richness of self.” May Sarton
“What life can compare to this? Sitting quietly by the window, I watch the leaves fall and the flowers bloom, as the seasons come and go.” Hsueh-Tou
“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing everyday.” A. A. Milne
Stay safe and well. And sane. Life inside is still life, and spring will come and even when we feel alone, we are not alone because so many others are feeling the same way.
debra dockter 