Life
Will Be Different
“And
now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.”
Rainer
Maria Rilke
Last
night, I watched the evening news and wept when they showed photos of famous Americans
who died this year—RBG, John Lewis, Kobe Bryant, and his little daughter, and
so many others. The number 300,000 was used to represent the deaths due to
Covid-19. I felt the weight of that loss for the first time. I have no algorithm
for understanding how many people are impacted by that many deaths, but it must
be more than a million. Such a terrible year—2020.
But we
are here. You and I are still breathing and on this side of the grave. We still
have life to live, things to do, steps to take. Somehow, it feels as though we should
be more thoughtful, more intentional about what we do and how we do it. Perhaps
we can imagine what some of the people who have left this plain of existence
would have done had they been able to hang on to life. Perhaps we could incorporate
some of their plans into our own. I don’t mean to be morbid, but truly, no one
saw this coming and suddenly, close to half-million souls are simply gone.
Worldwide, that number climbs to almost 2 million. How can we honor them?
I can
only speak for myself. What too-close proximity to death always does for me is
increase my appreciation for life. It sharpens my senses, broadens my field of
vision, and focuses my attention. I want to notice every detail, hear every
word, and taste everything that comes my way. I want to feel the cold and the
heat, watch the clouds and the birds winging by and listen to the music that I
love. I do not want to miss anything.
To
honor those who have gone before us, I believe we should live our lives to the
fullest, with intent and purpose, and share whatever gifts and talents we may
have with the world. What else can we do? We can enter the new year, 2021, with
open hearts and minds and expect the world to different—because we are
different, and we are the world.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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