Hope in the New World

By Shawn McAndrew

Most of us have spent the last year in some level of isolation. Whether that was in a bubble with our families, working from home and separated physically from our co-workers, or spending a copious amount of time by ourselves, we have generally learned what it’s like to not have a routine. We have had to adjust, change, reimagine, create, and – using the new buzz word – pivot.

Hope in the New World

Sounds kind of like a dance. And maybe that’s what a lot of us have been doing, learning a new dance of life. Now that things are starting to “open up” again, will we go back to our old ways of being? Or will we embrace our new awareness, the new steps we’ve learned? I suspect it will be a hybrid of both worlds. Bringing the best of both together, we can create a more accepting, more aware existence. We can have hope in the new world.

We get to choose what we want to take away from this challenging experience. It’s our chance to sift through and sort out the learning – the good, bad, and ugly. I, for one, felt like I was on a roller coaster of emotions for the first month. Then I started to look at what I might learn from this experience, and how my life might change. It seemed like my spirit was sending my intellect and emotional self on a treasure hunt for the times we were in. What could I learn? How would I be on the other side of this? What would I bring forward, and what would I leave behind?

Look Ahead with Positivity

All of these questions gave me the space to stay present and look ahead with positivity, and hope. And faith. Faith is a very important factor in this equation. Without faith that we would get through these dark days, there wouldn’t be much hope.

As the light is slowly coming back to the horizon, there is an opportunity to lean in to this faith and feel and understand what we’ve been through. Millions of deaths, disruption of routines/food supply/socializing/family connections/work, and so much more. Many feelings may be coming up for us – fear, distrust, loss, unknowing. We can bring our learning and knowing into the next chapter with us.

Create a Better World

Who do we want to be in the world? How do we want to be with our friends, families, co-workers? How do we want to treat people in general? We learned a big lesson about valuing essential workers; now we get to keep that appreciation and understanding going. We get to spread it out to everyone. A little patience, a little appreciation, a little love all go a long way to creating a better world.

Let’s keep creating a better world, dancing those new steps we learned, and spreading the love we have.