Early this morning, I was sitting on my porch sipping tea and writing in my journal. Normally, I’d make some sort of crack about moving into a nursing home next week, but I’ll try to be somewhat serious for a moment.
What I found myself doing was writing down what it felt like in that moment – the sounds, the smells, the coolness of the air, and the quiet of the world just after midnight. I wanted to remember what that was like, to bottle it in words, so that I could get back there some time.
There’s a lot of positives to our digital world. Without the internet and other tools, the past six months would’ve been a lot harder to manage and make work. I appreciate the advantages we have now as opposed to a century ago when a pandemic wasn’t nearly as manageable.
That’s not to say there aren’t drawbacks. I find myself fondly looking back on the days when I didn’t know all the innermost thoughts of the people I’m acquainted with. How having less background information could make it a lot easier to live in peace with others. That ignorance can be bliss.
Of course, I also think that ignorance or being unawareness has kept a lot of the things we’re seeing now under the surface. How having some of these ugly parts of our country and each other dragged out into the light isn’t necessarily a bad thing because they can be dealt with.
But if we’re going to deal with them, we also need rest from time to time. Peace, if only for a moment.