How do you find the energy, creativity, and thoughts to use your gift of language, and words, to inspire people and a world in pain, when you cannot find them?
As foreign as it feels to remain silent, you do not write because you just want to scream. You want to take the high road, offer optimism, hope, and certainty, that every day endured brings us closer to happier times. However, every time your fingers touch the keyboard, the same words appear, lies, betrayal, conflict, distrust, uncertainty, and pain.
You cannot find the comfort in your work because it has been taken away by bureaucratic rules, not remotely in touch with our family. You cannot go to a concert to hear music and see people of all walks of life united in lyrics, because they are banned. No sporting events, no plays, no movies, all banned. You travel to be in nature, only to find it crowded like a city parking lot as everyone searching for something more shares the same idea.
You watch as your children’s education no longer includes personal interaction with teachers, staff, coaches, and other students. You see little people taking their first day photos covered in masks, with only their eyes for you to look at, wondering if they have any idea what is going on and why we are doing it.
You try to be polite to the grocery clerk and ask how their day is going but you cannot hear anything they say behind their mask and plexiglass shields. You find yourself eventually, no longer asking others about their day, because you have all become faceless, nameless, and just another set of sad, fearful, and lonely eyes.
Late at night you find yourself again at your keyboard hoping the words will come to you, but instead all you are left with is tears. Empty hollow tears that lead you into another day of waiting for happiness can return. #fridayfocus