Another Kind of Travel

       Near the end of 2017 I sold my Connecticut home and most of my belongings to spend more time with family in Florida coupled with living my dream of traveling throughout the world. In my first year of living light I spent more than 26 blessed weeks in 11 countries on 4 continents. While the following years brought increased family health issues, I saw it as travel of a different sort – a path of care, love, and growth. And then came Covid.

       This pandemic that we are living is also a journey – one shared on a world-wide basis. Together we have traveled through fear and courage, grief and celebrations, tears of frustration and robust laughter, all centered in a cloud of uncertainty. Parents who always wanted to spend more time with their families got more than they ever wished for. Kids who relished snow days got a slew of them – even without the snow. We have stood before an open cupboard wondering what we went there for and have binge-watched more shows than we care to admit. We have witnessed massive amounts of sadness and resilience, the challenge of getting out of bed and the joy of human creativity. We are making history.

       My hope is that we are at the beginning of the end of the shared challenges of the pandemic, but I know we have a way to go. I’m not interested in “getting back to normal” – unless it is a better normal than we were shaken from so abruptly in early 2020. We can and must do better for all of humanity and the health of our planet. Nature is calling us to do better, and I hope we are listening.

       I came across this quote last night and it sat so beautifully on my spirit. I wish the same for all of us:

“… there now flows a constant stream of tenderness, a stream in which all
petty desires seem to have been extinguished. All that matters now is to be
kind to each other with all the goodness that is in us.”

                                                                                                ~ Etty Hillesum