It was an uncertain spring. — Virginia Woolf, The Years.
I don’t think even Virginia Woolf could imagine the spring we are having. As they said in Star Wars, “There has been a major disturbance in the Force.” And now as summer rapidly approaches, there is more and more talk about returning to “normal,” whatever “normal” means.
I am probably nuts, but I fear returning to normal, but not for the reasons you might think — the loss of more lives and more people getting sick. I fear the lost opportunity to use this crisis to build a better country and world. After the depression we built the great society, what if we use this opportunity to repair our educational system; offer quality healthcare to everyone regardless of wealth; rebuild our roads, bridges, and infrastructure; dismantle the military-industrial complex; and remove from the world the threat of nuclear destruction.
Sadly, I don’t hear any voices of vision from our leaders, political or religious. They all just want to return to the ways things were, as opposed to envisioning the way things could be. As I believe this uncertain spring gives each of us the opportunity to become better people and neighbors, I can only hope that our leaders will see the opportunity that can rise from the ashes of this uncertain spring.
Seeing the vitality of the environment during this “crisis”, I, for one, do not want to see a return to normalcy. The norm was not so great.
As always, Webb, I so appreciate your insights and perspectives. And, of course, today’s inspires me to quote a couple Rumi poems:
“The wound is the place where the light enters you.”
” Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”