I scan the room of expectant faces. It may be a hundred faces. A few times, I look out at well over 500 faces. Once, there were over a thousand faces looking at me. 

Have you ever asked, “What about me?”

Are you running around, doing all the things, making sure everyone else has what everyone else wants and needs, and suddenly realize that you don’t have a single thing for yourself?

Making yourself a priority is so hard this time of year, but it’s not impossible. In fact, for your friends, family, and coworkers to be happy and joyful...

You must be happy and joyful.

Whoa, there are A LOT of things outside our control right now. We have mandated masks in most states, it’s uncertain whether schools will open, and who knows about sports, community events, weddings, vacations, etcetera?

This pandemic has disrupted every common situation in each of our lives, and it has given the spotlight to all kinds of other horrors.

It’s all just over-the-top and out-of-control.

When we can’t make our own decisions about certain things, it starts to feel like we can’t make decisions about anything.

“Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster... for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you.” Friedrich W. Nietzsche

Be careful you don’t become that which you are fighting against.

I think it’s fair to say that none of us has experienced anything like our current crisis, the Covid-19 pandemic. Never in a million years did we expect to be sheltering in place, or even quarantined in our homes for some people. We surely could not have predicted that many people would be out of work or working from home, that schools and colleges would be shut down, and that we’d suddenly be forced to spend SO MUCH TIME with our immediate family members—with no break.

It’s Summer 2020, and we’re “somewhat” out of quarantine, but as news reports spout on the daily, it can all be snatched away from us at any moment.

People think that momming gets easier as kids become more independent. I remember when my kids were in diapers, I looked forward to the day they were potty-trained, or when they were breastfeeding, I looked forward to them eating the same food I ate.

 What I didn’t know was they were always going to do EVERYTHING when and if they CHOSE to, and not at all on my plan or schedule.

“Time is a very misleading thing. All there is ever, is the now. We can gain experience from the past, but we can't relive it; and we can hope for the future, but we don't know if there is one.” 
― George Harrison

Have you ever been in the room, having a conversation, engaging in what you hoped was dialog, only to feel that the other person was not there? I mean, they are sitting before you, flesh and blood…

…but they weren’t really present?

Have you been in a place in time where events were happening, people were moving in and out of the frame, there was conversation (and you were part of it), but you weren’t…

…really there?

Have you ever been in a meeting, where slides were being presented, decisions were being made, talk was being had…

…and no one was there?