As I sit here trying to figure out what I’m going to write about this month, I find myself drawing a blank. It isn’t that I have nothing to say (believe me I’ve got plenty), it’s that I want to present my words without judgement. According to human nature that is not an easy task to accomplish. I will try my best not to take on the role of judge, even though I may have already assigned myself to that position.

The past couple of months have certainly been full of trials and errors. There have been many new challenges which came with opportunities to do some intense soul searching. While this outbreak affected the entire world as a whole, it impacted each of us on an individual level as well.

Let’s start off with the obvious; life as we knew it changed. For me, there was no real change in my everyday life. My routines remained intact. I always reflected on how to improve my spiritual journey but now I have the opportunity to explore even further. The toughest challenge I face is trying to cope with having the hubby around 24/7. His retirement (which in our youth was seen quite differently) has opened up new doors of reality. Add this quarantine to it and I find myself wanting to lock him behind the basement door and keep him there. lol. If you know anything about my husband and I, you know that he is my royal PITA who loves to bring out the “beast” in me. For some reason, he enjoys watching me battle with myself as he plays Mr. Innocent. It’s the dynamic of our relationship that seems to keep others entertained so I play it out as if it’s a sitcom for the “Crazy Network”. It softens the blow of frustration and calms my inner sanctum. Finding a calming way to relieve the tenseness of a situation helps to not amplify it. Without my sense of humor “Studdly Do Wrong” (a term of endearment) would possibly be a reason why I might have found myself in solitary confinement; either in prison or the funny farm. Either way, I’d be behind bars and Studdly would not have the notoriety he has today. lol


Humor is not possible with every situation but rationality, understanding and reason are if we allow them to be. This leads me into some of the things I’d like to address in regard to this pandemic.

Death, Dying and Destiny
To start with, life has only one certainty and we all know what it is. Death is a reality that no one wants to face. It’s a terrifying thought. In order to get past it, we must accept it as fact. In our acceptance of death, we learn the importance of life and how to live it. A full life is not about age, possessions, monetary status, or professional success. It’s not about goals reached or unreached. We get lost in our goals without understanding Gods’ desire for us. None of us know the time frame of our life. Long or short the important thing is the mark we leave on this world. At the end of our life on this Earth, as we take our last breath, what will those worldly desires matter? Nothing. What will how we lived our life mean? Everything. That is the key to a fulfilled life.
As much as we believe we control our life, our destiny is out in the world. We don’t find it, it finds us. We ARE all traveling aboard the same ship. We’re just on different levels of that ship. Rich or poor, if the boat goes down, we all go down. The Titanic taught us that a sinking ship does not discriminate. We become either a victim or a survivor. At that moment, nothing else matters
This time of quarantine, in a sense, is our sinking ship. We’re all affected by it, we’re just at different levels. We hit the iceberg and life in its familiarity is sinking. Will we be a victim or a survivor? All we have are questions. Our destiny knows the answer.
We are being given an opportunity to reevaluate our life with the consciousness of spirit. An awakening and understanding that control and power were never ours for the taking. All that was needed was provided for. In our individual gift of Free Will, we were allowed to make choices that would carry us through life. Somewhere in a time frame unknown to us, destiny will meet up and let us know if we fell victim or are a survivor. I believe that understanding the importance and mission of our life allows us to accept our destiny as the beginning of an everlasting life.

How Do We See The World
Although we live in the same world, each of us sees it in our own way. Our perspective on life comes from our surroundings both in the physical sense and the emotional sense. Seldom, do we allow ourselves to take in the spiritual beauty that surrounds us. If we allowed ourselves to see the world as a spiritual journey, then our physical and emotional surroundings would find their place in our vision of the world.
We categorize life from A-Z, then number, and rate the volume of books we put between them. We try to fill the shelves with books of high ratings based on our likes and desires. All the other books are discarded. Did those books have no value or just no value to us? We have a tendency in life to place value on only the things we feel benefit us and take the rest for granted. Just look at what is happening in the world right now. Aren’t we all (at least a little) guilty of rating jobs and people according to our views? We judge and rate people by their job, status, position, power, athletic ability, or celebrity success. We create heroes based on our own opinion of what a hero is and we cast away the rest as insignificant. It seems we are beginning to realize that we tossed aside people of value.
We judge people by their cover, not their content. The people that we now call heroes are doing what they’ve always done. They are working with the same integrity and perseverance as they did in the past. It took a worldwide pandemic to open our eyes to see their worth. We should never have closed our eyes to the roles in everyday life these people have. There job and work ethic should have always been valued. Shame on us, for not acknowledging their worth. What gave us the right to determine which jobs deserved a status symbol and how much monetary value we place on the job. That’s the unfairness of life. We determine the worth of one another.
When this is all over let’s see if we truly value these dedicated people. Time will tell. We need to remember, the person makes the job, the job doesn’t make the person.

Keeping Our Distance From One Another We learned a new phrase to live by during this period of adjustment. While the phrase may be new to our daily vocabulary the action was already in motion long before this pandemic came to be. Social Distancing wasn’t just cast upon us. We imposed it on ourselves. How many of us were already pulling away from family, traditions and friends isolating ourself in a world of technology? We were even quarantining and keeping our distance from others because somehow we believed they posed a threat. We made people with challenges feel alone in a world full of people. We traveled shoulder to shoulder on subways and buses, walked on crowded streets yet were miles apart from one another.
It’s okay if we’re calling the shots but it turns completely different when our rights are jeopardized. Then it becomes an issue. Wasn’t it always an issue? The difference is we controlled it so it was okay.
Hopefully we are learning how social distancing impacts our lives and we make the necessary changes before it’s to late. If this has taught us anything it’s that we need one another in ways we never understood

Learning About Blame
How do we live a non-judgmental life in such a critical world? This is where I have to be mindful of not judging individuals while I critique actions). Human nature tends to have us place blame anywhere we see fit. Naturally, we remove ourselves from blame’s path. We form our own gospel truth which becomes our living word. We choose a leader, stand on opposite sides of a fence, waiting for the first stone to be thrown and then we launch our missiles of blame toward one another. What we don’t realize is that we’re on different sides of the same ship. Like the first ship, this too will sink. it doesn’t matter what side we’re standing on the entire ship is gonna go down.
Placing blame upon one another has been going on since the beginning of time. It’s nothing new. What’s shocking is that we constantly watch history repeat itself and we still haven’t figured out our real enemy. No one country, race of people, or religious group is our enemy. Our enemy is one thing only, evil. As with destiny, evil is in the world. It lurks around waiting for us to let it in. Much like a sinking ship, once it’s got us, it wants to take us down by drowning us in hatred. It may offer us a life preserver and a rescue boat but rest assure they come with a price. That price is our integrity and our soul. The best way to avoid this takedown is to find the anchor of truth and learn how to keep afloat.
One thing that we need to recognize is how easy it is to become brainwashed. Either self-imposed or led by the beliefs of others, we need to be more aware. Be mindful of how easily we are impacted by others’ thoughts or views just because we have similar beliefs. How quickly we turn strangers into enemies without any knowledge as to who we are projecting our anger upon. We visit other countries to enjoy and learn the customs of that land. We travel without fear that we’re entering enemy territory because deep in our heart we know the people of this land are not our enemy. Their spirit is much like yours and mine. They have hopes, dreams, and families also. They want a peaceful, fruitful life. Much like us, they too must be cautious of the evil which desires to turn us into enemies. A valuable lesson to be learned.
Maybe what I’m saying makes sense to you, maybe it doesn’t. Perhaps you’ve discovered your own perspective as to why we’re in this new phase of life.

In closing, my final thought goes to a movie I watched the other night. The storyline was about an African American mother who picks up and leaves her three grown children and young granddaughter. Not knowing where she’s headed she buys a one-way bus ticket out west. In her travels, she meets a woman trucker who offers to bring her to a small town that she thinks she’ll like. In the middle of nowhere, she walks into a cafe owned and operated by a Native American man who specializes in French cuisine. Seated at the counter are three Caucasian men who are regulars at the cafe. In walks a total stranger who is not judged by her color but embraced as a guest. All she wants is scrambled eggs, bacon, and wheat toast but the owner/chef will not substitute his French cuisine menu. After a kind back and forth interaction of words and some influence of the three regulars at the counter he succumbs. The three men and the woman let him know that if he were more accommodating his failing business might prosper. He reasons then offers this woman, a total stranger, a job. What struck me about this movie was the purity of spirit. How three different ethnicities bonded immediately with no pre-judgments toward one another. They all worked together and respected one another for what they had to offer. They connected with one another’s spirit and benefitted one another. Isn’t that what we all should do?
Perhaps that is the great lesson in this pandemic that we are facing right now. How willing are we to live free of judgement and blame, free of ego and free of power that was never ours to begin with! We may not see it in our lifetime but we can certainly leave our mark in the world by taking that crucial step


Married 44 years to my hubby whose purpose in life is to prevent me from getting through the “Pearly Gates”. Mother of two, Nanna of four loving granddaughters and retired secretary aka administrative assistant. I went to the University of Hard Knocks where I received my Doctorate. My thesis is titled: How To Survive Life’s Trials Without Killing Yourself or Someone Else. I live by the belief that when life throws you a curve, learn from it rather than use it against yourself. Faith and humor are my survival kit. Appreciate the simple things for they are the true treasures of life.

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