One year ago, in place of happy babies in hot springs, we were instead sharing frantic daily updates about how we were adapting to the then unfolding crisis of Covid 19.
It would be roughly 2 weeks of changes, cancellations, partially open this, and fully closed that before we made the call to completely close for what ended up being 6 weeks.
What ensued was a state of mind, being, and existing that needs no explanation.
We all experience March 2020 in our own way but with shared lessons - panic, isolation, concern, and of course, survival.
While the rest is not quite history yet, we sure have come a long way.
Panic turned to creativity and resilience. The latter fueled social movements and racial justice. Masks became symbols, and politics became personal. Holidays, events, gatherings, and rituals all transformed. Some, it turns out, transformed us.
In March 2020, they said 200k deaths in the US was a worst-case scenario. Today, it's now over 500k. Friends, neighbors, seniors, and so many more didn't make it through the year.
And yet, today, in record time, a vaccine is spreading at the same pace as the virus it chases. Schools, jobs, cities, families, friends, businesses, and certainly us over here on our shores now have thicker skin for having born it all.
So, as we take stock of all that has happened since our last rotation around the Sun this March, let's keep thinking, acting, and behaving like we are in something together because we are. It's called existence.
And thankfully, Mother Nature and happy little babies remind us that existence IS HERE TO STAY.