Pandemic Ponderings, part 1

https://youtu.be/2hvdvsEn7KI

I often wonder how many things in our world are shifting. So much seems to be "on thin ice." It could be that these shifts have been happening for a while, but now that a full world-wide pandemic has thrown us all into a chaos, it is impossible to come back from. 

Shifts in my own life, personally and professionally, have opened up so many questions. Pondering such questions can be scary and exhilarating all at the same time. 

This really great short film was part of the 2019-2020 Banff Mountain Film Festival. It captures one of the new (or RENEWED) messages that I heard loud and clear at the beginning of the pandemic. Maybe you also have heard it. It is the message that so many moms have said: "Go Outside!"

"We need to be outside."

 

New York Minute

Cassadaga Lakes, in winter

It almost seems passé to write things like:

    "How much has changed since I put these 5 lines on text in the 'draft' folder of this blog?!"

    "Why add words to the blogosphere when so much that is wrong with our world stems from people publishing text that is meaningless, obvious, or malicious?"

    "What things have you learned over the last 2 years of the pandemic and how has it shaped you?"

    

However, I feel prompted to begin blogging again after two years of blog dormancy. 

A few weeks ago, as I was deciding if I really did need to start blogging again, I clicked on the tab to "create a new post" only to discover that I had started a post two years ago only days before the world was turned upside-down. I had intended to write about my experience thus far living in western New York. The picture here and the 5 lines of text surprised me there. I had totally forgotten that I had a draft. It was going to be about the beauty of western New York, maybe especially during the winter, and what my experiences of it had been thus far. Truly, when I was writing two years ago, I had only lived here for a minute...now I have lived here for three minutes.

The themes that I will write about now will reflect ideas and experiences that have been important to me. It will be about my experiences of God in my every day life. There will be plenty of scripture, some encouragement, some prophetic challenges issued to myself and others who crave honesty. There will be illustrations from my own life about how we are all on this adventure of life together, and how healing comes when we allow ourselves to behold God. It is for those of us who need constant reminding (being held) of the extravagant love of God.

(from March 9, 2020)

I remember that I used to dream about living in New York. It was New York City! I used to think that the constant motion of city life was perfectly designed for the kind of life that I wanted.

Now after living in western New York for over a year, I am entertained by that younger me and all of the things that I craved. There is so much on that list that simply does not matter to me now.