Quality QuaranTIME
There are hardly enough adequate words to express what is happening in the world right now. So much pain, grief, anxiety and hopelessness. And then there are glimpses of beauty - some good news, if you will (thank you, John Krasinski). People stepping into the hurt in the name of love and caring for one another.
The world is scary right now. And when things are frightening, we often find ourselves looking down at our feet, in order to protect us from the surrounding pain. I think Mr. Rogers’ mother would be reminding young Fred to raise his chin and “look for the helpers” - and in turn, he would remind us of the same thing. If we refuse to look up, we miss the beauty.
Currently, the RSW Building team is primarily working on an ADU at our own home. The timing was impeccable and almost unbelievable. This allows us to work from home (for the most part) and socially distance ourselves, in order to care for our vulnerable friends. While life’s experiences leading up to building this ADU have come with their own challenges, we have been reminded that Love is still the most powerful force in the world. There is so much to be grateful for amidst the fear. Here are some of the things we have noticed when we made the conscious choice to look up:
We are grateful for our family.
We are grateful to celebrate the new marriage of two of our favorite people (who also happen to be family).
We are grateful for the many ways we are able to lighten each other’s load when the world seems heavy.
We are grateful for morning walks.
We are grateful for combined grocery runs and home deliveries (and especially all the grocery store workers and delivery truck drivers!).
We are grateful for health care workers and caregivers, who relentlessly give of themselves to help heal our loved ones and friends we haven’t met yet.
We are grateful for laughter and dancing.
We are grateful for a toddler who has no idea what COVID-19 is, and just wants to point out all the colors and letters and animals he sees.
We are grateful for technology, which makes working from home and staying in touch with loved ones a little easier.
We know life will look different when this all settles - and maybe that’s okay. We heard once at a community development conference that:
“It is often assumed that power is what brings about transformation. However, the strongest conduit for transformation is actually pain.”
(Forgive me, I don’t remember who said it.) What if we come out of this time a little gentler? A little more gracious. A little more patient. A little more mindful and remembering that we belong to each other. What if we are in the middle of a collective transformation? Because we made the choice to sit with our pain, let it teach us, and remember that nothing is wasted.
We hope you are allowing yourselves time and space to grieve. It truly is important. We also pray that you are able to hold onto the hope that this too shall pass, and we can emerge from our transformation new and holding tight to Love.
(P.S. Go tell the people you love that, well, you love them. Life is too short not to.)
COMPLIMENTARY DAD JOKE:
My friend keeps saying, "Cheer up, man - it could be worse. You could be stuck underground in a hole full of water."
I know he means well.