Brighter Day (Forest Sun)

Feels to me, at least in our family, that the pandemic, despite the fact there is much tragedy surrounding, has provided each of us with many opportunities for personal growth:  mindfulness, compassion, patience, awareness, self-care, gratitude, listening skills, thoughtfulness.  We actually talk about it often, and we are noticing each other's progress.  Sweet.

The poem and quote below appeared on my radar at the same time, albeit from two different sources, and the rest fell into place, all magical gifts from The Universe... 💖

SONG:  Brighter Day by Forest Sun

BOOK:  Make Someone Happy: Favorite Postings by Elizabeth Berg

POEM:  the windows of Liberty, Maine by Maya Stein

for Kate

Which is another way of saying, What will you do when the chips are down,

or How will you make a life that beats the odds, or Where does your mind go

when the enemy recedes, or Have you ever loved a place you haven’t been,

or Who do you think you are…no, really? or, What is it that feels the most

impossible, or Why walk when you can run, or What do you call that moment

when the light changes for good, or Who is holding the stopwatch, or Where

does it say that broken isn’t beautiful, or How many times are you willing

to break, or What do you get when you cross the road without

the f***ing chicken, or Which language is the one you want to be speaking, or

What is the sound of one window opening, and another, and another?

QUOTE:  “Admit it. You aren’t like them. You’re not even close. You may occasionally dress yourself up as one of them, watch the same mindless television shows as they do, maybe even eat the same fast food sometimes. But it seems that the more you try to fit in, the more you feel like an outsider, watching the “normal people” as they go about their automatic existences. For every time you say club passwords like “Have a nice day” and “Weather’s awful today, eh?”, you yearn inside to say forbidden things like “Tell me something that makes you cry” or “What do you think deja vu is for?”. Face it, you even want to talk to that girl in the elevator. But what if that girl in the elevator (and the balding man who walks past your cubicle at work) are thinking the same thing? Who knows what you might learn from taking a chance on conversation with a stranger? Everyone carries a piece of the puzzle. Nobody comes into your life by mere coincidence. Trust your instincts. Do the unexpected. Find the others…” ~ Timothy Leary