History is Happening 

It’s been a couple of week since life did a drastic shift in a direction none of us anticipated. I think we’ve all kind of gone through some shock, confusion, disbelief, and whatnot. I know I have.

I’ve been up and down and all over the place, life the Heffalumps and Woozles from Winnie the Pooh.

Yes. That is what I feel like lately.

“The Heffalump and Woozle are very confusled…they’re up and down. They’re in, they’re out, they’re all about.”

But I’m also watching the upheaval in the world and I find it intensely fascinating. I’ve said for a long time that it’s important to write your story because history, true history, is found in the diaries and journals of those who have come before. That’s where you see what daily life was like for those living 100 years before you did.

Have you all realized that we are currently living through history? What’s happening now across the world has never happened before. Yes, we’ve had pandemics and yes, fear has been sown and flung across the planet like the toxic ball of stench that it is. But this – the shutdowns, the plummeting economics, the neighbors living together but apart, even the technology that connects us in a time when everything seems to be stopping – it is all a piece of history. This experience, these moments, these choices made are determining the path our country and the world will take.

This fascinates me to no end! How crazy is it to be living through this life-altering moment in history and to realize that we don’t know what life will look like in a month? In ten years our children will talk about the time ‘everybody stayed home.’ In fifteen years they’ll make thrillers and dramas that heighten this experience and exaggerate it into story fodder. But for now, it’s history. And it’s very interesting to watch.

Also, side note, this isn’t the first major historical event we’ve lived through. Nope. The economic downfall of 2008 was considered the greatest economic collapse in America since the Great Depression. Kudos for all of you for surviving that. And then 9/11 was an event that shaped and continues to shape so many aspects of our lives and our country. Also kudos for living through that.

Something that I keep thinking a lot is how much history we’ve already experienced, how much more stretches in front of us, and how the experiences most of us have already gone through have given us grit, tenacity, courage, and determination to come together as individuals, as families, and as a nation and stand for something better, something greater — something beautiful.

The other thing I keep thinking is the phrase, ‘Be still and know that I am God.’ Now is the time to be still, to meditate, to pray, to listen, to connect with God, and to trust. Maybe because I don’t know what else to do or where to turn. I don’t know what’s happening or what to trust, but I do know where I can put my trust and faith and that’s what I’ll do. So for now, Be Still.

I hope at the end of all of this we are all stronger and more connected, have more compassion and love; in short, I hope we come together and heal.