It’s been six weeks since we started our lockdown, and so much is still uncertain. Stay at home orders have been modified to last “indefinitely,” facial coverings are required when outside as of today (Thank you to Eliel Cycling, a local cycling clothing company, for making some super cool ones!), and professional cycling has gone virtual, and nobody knows if/when for certain whether another live race will happen in 2020. Perhaps only the Cyclocross calendar has any hope of going on as planned.
And now, it’s starting to get to Baby Girl. This morning after another virtual Circle Time, she shared some with me some feelings of sadness. In her own sweet 5 year old way, she shared she wants “the cold to go away;” she doesn’t want to do anymore virtual classes, she wants to go back to her classroom and see her friends for real. At that moment, my heart broke and exploded with love and pride at the same time. Sad for my little girl who misses playing with her friends so so much, and so proud of her for being able to recognize and express how she’s feeling about all this.
It’s tough on all of us to visit friends and family through a small screen. To meet with coworkers this way. To celebrate birthdays. To have play dates. To watch cyclist avatars on a screen “race” while real humans are in their garages, bedrooms, patios spinning on a home trainer like hamsters on a wheel for an hour. And yet, at least we have that. At least we can still see these people we care about. What must it have been like in 1918 when those people were quarantined?
My friend Deacon Mike has been posting such great stuff during this lockdown, and he shared a poem last week that I’ve shared with a lot of people and I’m now sharing it on this blog. I leave you with this, food for thought...Straight from his blog:
History repeats itself.
This is a poem written
in 1869 and reprinted
in 1919 during the Spanish Flu Pandemic.
Written in1869 by Kathleen O'Mara
And people stayed at home
And read books
And listened
And did exercises
And made art and played
And learned new ways of being
And stopped and listened
More deeply
Someone meditated, someone prayed
Someone met their shadow
And people began to think differently
And people healed.
And in the absence of people who
Lived in ignorant ways
Dangerous, meaningless and heartless,
The earth also began to heal
And when the danger ended and
People found themselves
They grieved for the dead
And made new choices
And dreamed of new visions
And created new ways of living
And completely healed the earth
Just as they were healed.
Wow ... 1869 ... reprinted in 1919
This is a poem written
in 1869 and reprinted
in 1919 during the Spanish Flu Pandemic.
Written in1869 by Kathleen O'Mara
And people stayed at home
And read books
And listened
And did exercises
And made art and played
And learned new ways of being
And stopped and listened
More deeply
Someone meditated, someone prayed
Someone met their shadow
And people began to think differently
And people healed.
And in the absence of people who
Lived in ignorant ways
Dangerous, meaningless and heartless,
The earth also began to heal
And when the danger ended and
People found themselves
They grieved for the dead
And made new choices
And dreamed of new visions
And created new ways of living
And completely healed the earth
Just as they were healed.
Wow ... 1869 ... reprinted in 1919
