A New Normal

A very interesting thing has started to happen in our household. Without all the normal rushing about of our "normal" lives, with no time crunch of getting to school and work on time, without noise and distractions, we're able to hear something: Quiet creativity.

It has come to us in many forms. Baking sourdough bread (like everyone else in the world, we find this very satisfying!), tending to small vegetable starts on the windowsill, building that Lego house that's been sitting in pieces for months, snuggling with the cat, painting with the kids.

During these long quiet days, my mind has found a sort of settling-- a part that lay dormant for years is opening up to reveal what I can only describe as "space". This space, instead of being drowned out by stuff and busy-ness, is being filled with pondering, reflection and general gratefulness.

Even though I hope that this crisis will soon end and I'm not grateful for the event that put us all here, I am grateful for what it's brought. I truly hope that I can keep this openness and continue to find space for creativity when life goes back to normal. Although, we all know that life will never go back to normal-- and that we will define a new normal based on what we learn today.