This is a crazy time, and to feel the stress and worry is normal, I certainly have experienced stress. But there is always hope.  There’s always hope in each other.

My mind is bouncing around today.  In part because I was thinking of all the changes we’ll experience in the world going forward, it is mind boggling.   I just read a part of an article about how things will change culturally, post pandemic, how much travel might change, for example.  It caused me to remember how much travel has changed in the last 40 years.  The early days of travel for me was very different than what we have experienced recently.  Then it was as if I was leaving planet home.  Calls were hotel room calls, that were expensive, there were no cell phones.  I remember that more than a couple of bucks of calls and you’d get called out by your boss for travel expenses.  I remember a boss telling me that he cannot understand how we could possibly spend more than $25 a day in meals… this was when we were traveling in the LA area.  All reservations, and ticketing and even maps were paper.  Do you know how to read a map, let alone fold a map?  I always had a file with me of stuff I might need.  Traveler Checks were even a thing.  Travel agents, their phone number and always some change for pay phones were vital if something went wrong. Now everything has been made easy, fluid, and connected.  We like to explore, and we can.  But will we after this? How long will it take for us to forget, to let our guard down?  We went from traveling half-way around the world on a whim, to not being able to visit friends for dinner at the restaurant on the corner.  What a crazy time.

But back to hope… It is what we must always keep, and hold precious.   Yes, everything changes, and certainly our world has changed more quickly than ever before.  But it is our option to look forward with hope.  Emily Dickinson was an amazing poet of the 19^th century.  I read this poem, “Hope is the thing with feathers” and thought it is great, and we could all use a little more hope.  That little bird hope, that chirps in our souls and keeps us going at all times, keeping us positive.  It asks so little of us, and gives so much!

“Hope” is the thing with feathers – (314)

By Emily Dickinson

 “Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –

And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm – 

I’ve heard it in the chilliest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet – never – in Extremity,
It asked a crumb – of me.