photo by Annalisa Barelli
Which leads us to my next category, which might seem frivolous: entertainment. Transitioning from the preciousness of time to how we’re going to spend it can be bumpy. I’ve never doubted that entertainment can be mentally stimulating, awe-inspiring and life-affirming, all positive effects. But, if you’re like me, it’s pretty easy to let your choices float down the gutter, i.e., containing none of the above. When we think of it in a limited-time framework, we want to make good entertainment choices—especially in the time of corona.
Ratcheting up the level of importance, we have to make choices about each other. Not about our future (although choices lie ahead), but about our present. The circumstances are always different, but most of us have some sort of other(s). I don’t know why (yes I do), but it’s always been easier for me to think about how my other is treating me than how I am treating her. These people who have been with us however long, who are the most significant people in our lives—we should be lavishing our love and affection upon them. I know it gets complex immediately, but that is a good guideline for how we treat each other.
As easily avoidable as the subject is, we have to (or at least should) make choices about death. Obviously, the legal stuff…Karen’s Aunt Faith had everything beautifully organized, and it has still been difficult to navigate. I can’t imagine trying to sort it out from scratch. But there’s lots of other choices—do they know what we want; (do we know what we want)? If they know, do we want to know? Have we set the limit for keeping us alive? Are we ready (it’s better to decide that in advance)? What about our funerals? I know exactly what I want, but my wife doesn’t want me to write about it. Can we ever be ready to die, except because of pain? I hope so.
My last topic is probably predictable: God. We should say “yes” to God. I don’t mean come-to-the-altar, lost-was-found “yes” (although I’m not opposed to that). Wherever we are on the Spiritual Journey—we should say yes. A daily, moment-by-moment, day-by-day, this-is-a-journey yes. I suspect that every human soul (there are a lot of people out of touch with their souls) , when asked what was most valued, would say love and peace and hope . We don’t have them and can’t buy them—they can only be received. By saying yes, we open up our hearts. Say yes.
I’m sure I’ve missed something, but these are the big ones—in my mind. The thing about choices is we don’t just make them and file them away, as if all has been resolved. We have to keep making them, day by day, moment by moment. Like our actions, we are responsible for our choices—even if we choose to do nothing. The temptation in the days of corona is to do nothing—but what fun is that?
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