This pandemic teaches us we are not separate from one another, from the earth, from Nature herself. A virus we cannot see has radically transformed our sense of normalcy. We cannot hug our loved ones, we must stand 6 feet apart at the grocery store, we are quarantined inside our houses and wear masks when we need to venture out for the essentials.

And yet.

I am experiencing more interconnectedness than separateness in my life. I walk and make eye contact and nod my head with solidarity at strangers on the sidewalk because they cannot see my smile underneath my mask. What was a once-a-week call to my parents has morphed into daily Facetime conversations about our days, what we ate for dinner, what we saw on our walks. The mundane has become beautiful because we paying better attention to our lives. We connect together over those simple moments. Friends from the past have resurfaced and we’re dusting off where we left off with newfound excitement. Thoughtful, heartfelt handwritten cards appear in my mailbox like confetti. I connect more deeply with my clients because we are navigating the same changes, constraints, and uncertainty together.

At first I felt like a lonely trickle of water making its way down a mountain, searching for a place to rest and pool. Now, I am meeting with streams to form rivers, where together, ultimately, we join the sea.