“Someday you’re gonna look back on this moment of your life as such a sweet time of grieving. You’ll see that you were in mourning and your heart was broken, but your life was changing.” – Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat Pray Love
Part of me knew 2020 would be monumental. I think we all felt this way– going into a brand new decade.
By January, there was already so much on the horizon. A gallery exhibition, finishing the draft of my memoir, traveling to Madrid in April.
What was not on the itinerary for the year was a global pandemic that would turn the world upside down.
Or filing for a divorce from my husband in the middle of said pandemic’s ensuing chaos.
It’s been said (first by Allen Saunders in a 1957 Reader’s Digest article and then in a John Lennon song), “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”
Touché, Life.
I shared my personal news (perhaps haphazardly) on Instagram yesterday.
Under normal circumstances, I would have scheduled coffee dates, dinners, happy hours with friends to let them know what was going on in my life.
I’d be able to hug my mom and dad when I started feeling down about things.
I wouldn’t be packing my belongings in preparation for a move to an apartment I’ve never seen in person.
But “normal” no longer exists.
So I think we need to give ourselves (and each other) some grace.
Behind a smile can be unbearable grief.
Sadness and hope are not mutually exclusive.
We are all fighting many, many battles these days.
It’s difficult to protect our bodies from a novel virus, but we can preserve our heart’s capacity for kindness.
Everyone is being forced to change, and how we evolve is still a choice.