What We Might Be Saying in a Year or So

2020 was a doozy of a year! So many of us got sick with the virus. So many of us died earlier than we would have otherwise. We lost jobs, money, and, most significantly, we temporarily lost a sense of confidence about the future.

Yet, here we are in late 2021. We got through it. So what did we learn.

We learned that we are all interconnected, whether we like it or not. We now recognize that all of us on planet Earth are connected in a giant physical (and maybe metaphysical) network. For many centuries prior to 2020 most of us were able to ignore this fact. But in a post 2020 world we can no longer ignore this simple reality... we are one... big interconnected organism.

We learned that we need to create a global healthcare system that has the capacity to respond to the next novel virus and to the one after that. We learned that we need to transcend cultural barriers that inhibit collaboration. We learned that our giant physical (and maybe metaphysical) network can be helpful in solving other global problems we face like climate change.

We learned that our ignorant government leaders had to either grow up or get out of the way. We discovered that we didn't need to accept stupid political gridlock. We learned that we still have the intelligent capacity to work with each other in order to solve problems.

In some ways, the damn virus may have done us a favor.

When Your Mother Dies at a Very Old Age...

You might think there is no need for sorrow, no need for grief.
You might think her death is actually overdue and a welcome relief.

People might say to you, "The deceased has finally been released
from the painful cage of very old age.

So just move on. Don't feel sad.
Just appreciate what a good life she had."

You might even tell yourself. Don't feel lost. Don't feel lonely.
Don't dwell on the loss of your one and only...
Mothership.

All of that might be good advice for how you should feel.
But don't expect that advice to matter a great deal.

Because the Mothership is gone and can never be replaced.
So now you are left to learn how to fill in the empty space.