I was out and about today, diligently wearing my mask. I talked to many merchants who told me that their store has had their best sales numbers for summer in years. People were ready to get out, ready to put their ideas to work, and people wanted to support local merchants. Most were upbeat and glanced over the bad news.
Their stories remind me of this quote, light shows us the way while the darkness shows us the stars. We need both dark and light to survive no matter how much we prefer one over the other. To be whole we need to look all around, above, below, side to side and underneath to truly see it all. Only looking one direction is not enough to completely understand anything.
It is easy to want to stay in the light all the time and it is natural to want to limit our time in darkness. We need both, we need to face both, and we need to learn the lessons each has to offer. Being willing to step into the darkness to see the stars is magnificent for that is the only time they are visible. Imagine never seeing a night’s sky, or missing out on the moon’s reflection through a foggy dawn, or never hearing the summer bugs serenade the earth to sleep. Only when we embrace both the light and the dark do we gain the understanding to value both.
It has been nearly nine months since these COVID-19 days started, long enough for babies to be conceived and almost born. We have managed to create a new normal, even if we do not know how long this ‘normal’ will be the status quo. We have developed new habits, re-evaluated our priorities and adjusted our lives to accommodate the darkness that is isolation and the light that has been brought to our eyes through more focus on how we really want to live. We have changed our communities, our businesses, charities and finances have all been impacted. Some for the better some to their end. None of us will ever forget these strange social distancing days both the light and the dark of it all.
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