Here are some anecdotal ruminations and links to writing about the upside down backward reality that today is. Living in the moment seems like common sense.
In the midst of a chilly, rainy May, I noted the sky did not fall, as the federal social distancing guidelines expired at the end of April.
However, the dust bunnies started moving! From the corner of my eye, I caught one tiptoeing from under a chest. Finally time to vaccum!
Housework is something you do that nobody notices until you don’t do it. ~Anonymous
Even I was beginning to notice. So, I put the paintbrush down.
But, not for long.
Amusing Ourselves with Good Memories
Because we limited TV news, we watched the first three seasons of All Creatures Great and Small again. (On Amazon Prime)
The music, the opening scene whisked me back to first time we watched it, in the mid-nineteen seventies when Watergate wounded the nation.
We next revisited the Yorkshire dales in the nineteen nineties when news of impeachment, war and financial upheavals confounded us.
In the today’s complicated times, the straightforwardness, spirit and decency of the characters, even as their lives and times became more complicated, has been worth revisiting.
As I watched the story line lead the characters to the new roles they would play in World War II, I could see a true truth: living in “in the moment” is not always hedonistic, sometimes, it’s common sense.
In-the-moment Living
These past weeks have been filled with in-the-moment blessings. From telephone calls, to texts, emails, snail-mail notes; “ZOOM” chats, gifts of home-made soup, and yellow roses, to a friend who played a favorite hymn via the phone – so many blessings.
It’s dawning on me, though, that the upside down backward reality today is — of financial distress, risk, and health challenges — is now normal. I almost believe that. Acceptance is not quite here yet.
So, this week, my chore remains to fill this week with good in-the-moment moments – and not do anything dumb that makes me into someone else’s problem.
It’s safer, then, to paint on . . .
Painting in a Pandemic
Yes, I know . . . it’s getting a little out of hand.
So has my hair, by the way! My hair has gotten so long, I look like the ancestor bird of some of crazy owls I painted!
Maybe that’s why last week I felt like I was whistling past the graveyard most of the time; not an easy thing to do in a pandemic. (Especially if I forget to breathe deeply!)
If you are having trouble whistling – or singing — let pass along a link to a sermon on finding a song to sing or whistle in these uncertain times. You might like to revisit Rock of Ages. (James Ward’s rendition)
Also, click on a short and helpful talk by Tim Keller: Talking to yourself, not listening to yourself.
God be with you, dear reader! May this week hold may wonderful in-the-moment moments for you and yours!
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