Withstanding the storm of this pandemic

There are certain moments these days when I exhale, take a cleansing breath, and stand back from the daily whirlwind of this pandemic to zoom back with a broader perspective of it all.

Everything feels so....... surreal....... a word that keeps coming back to me like a circling gust of wind that takes your breath away if you're not ready for it. It's as if we're in a science fiction movie. Or an escapist-horror book. Or as if we're living in a distant country, far away from the privileges and pampering we're accustomed to in America the Beautiful.

It's these reflective, introspective moments when I realize how historic this period in time is for us, and how it will be portrayed and remembered as we look back on it, someday. Someday.

This "someday" will eventually arrive, and only then will we have the needed perspective to view this national emergency and international pandemic in its totality - the full breadth of it all.

In the meantime, as we deal with the daily struggles of this situation - our fears, anger, concerns, responsibilities, questions, confusion and gestures of kindness to each other - I recommend that every so often we zoom back from these immediate thoughts to reflect on the broader scope of things. Not only does it help put things into focus, it provides us with a much needed perspective beyond ourselves.

When that next blast of wind whips through us - and you know it will - keep in mind that these gusts from this historic storm will eventually dissipate. And we will breathe easy again. This is the inevitable reality of this surreal situation.