The year 2020 changed all of our lives. It was a very strange year of isolation and quarantine when human touch and welcomed faces were so sorely needed. ‘Out of sight/out of mind’ was not what we needed then or now.

Someone once told me that keeping one ‘out of mind’ can be a successful coping mechanism, but I begged to differ with that thought, especially during the height of COVID. Perhaps this exercise works for some, but not for me. Trying to keep those we love out of our minds is like trying to ignore that pink elephant in the room that never leaves. It's there morning, noon, and night. Why even try to think it away? So many people have found themselves thinking about those they will miss forever because they lost them during this terrible period in our lives. We all want to know that we are loved, even if we can’t feel the love up close and personal.

We have landed in a new world order with no return ticket to what we'd become so used to. The world we once knew and had grown so comfortable with suddenly turned upside down. I wonder what we will remember thirty years from now when we look back on this strange, unexpected time?

 It started for me with so much excitement – ‘My 20 -20 Vision.’  My vision board was filled with images of many wonderful things I planned to do, including traveling to visit family and friends, attending my family reunion, and so many other things I had put off for far too long. However, this was far from what I envisioned when I started that year 2020; and the transition into whatever our new normal will become seems endless. 

I feel that the pandemic was God’s way of giving us all a blank slate to redirect our chaotic lives. We needed to slow w-a-a-a-y down to refocus on things most important in our lives and some hidden gifts buried inside that we never even considered. Far too often, we've delayed visiting those we say are most significant in our lives, thinking there's always tomorrow. The last few years have certainly taught us differently.

Covid 19 gave me a new sense of peace and time to contemplate new thoughts to write and put out in the universe. I had to just BE STILL, so I could now hear the gentle push of the wind against my wind chimes and the choir of birds singing and fluttering across my yard. I discovered that I had a menagerie of critters living in the same space with me that I hadn't noticed before. They were always there. I had simply pushed them out of my mind. How could I have missed all this world of wonder in my pre-Covid life?! I was also among those who found myself too busy ripping and running, watching the clock, and checking off appointments, not really appreciating the finite time I'd been given to be here.

I now satisfy myself watching carpenter bees burrowing holes in the wood above my back door, the family of birds who have made a new home on my front porch, and the rabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks scampering across my yard. One of my favorite spots is now on my patio, where I work to turn my thumb from weed-colored brown to vibrant green – a work in progress, but one I’ve truly grown to enjoy. I envision one day an outdoor sanctuary that I helped bring to life all by myself.

Perhaps for some, “out of sight” may simply keep what is real at a distance, but it’s still the reality. When things show up in our lives that we wish would just go away, God may just be sending us a message we need to hear. Deal with it!

Sometimes we want to just think away those things that show up in our lives as unexpected and unwanted annoyances. However, we must remember that in every message, there is meaning. Just trying to think things away often makes the meaning of the message go away as well. So the moral of this story is a simple one…