Day Sixty-nine

Feest Isolation Days – 22 May

Oh dear!  It would seem that my musings have given the impression to several of you that I am sad. The life we once lived is gone for now and from time to time that makes me sad, but only until I bounce back once more.  I’m naturally an optimist!  In fact, at a social distanced meeting with a friend this week, I said Terry and I were more than surviving, we were actually thriving.  Thinking about that made me wonder why that should be.  For starters, it helps to be living with someone you love and respect and have fun with! Especially in lockdown! Another reason is because we express the emotions that we feel when life is not always perfect.  Not only express them, but share them. And then once announced to ourselves and others, we can let them go.  

Having been called a Pollyanna in the past is not something I ever minded.  The heroine of that story, the young girl who played the glad game that her father had taught her was a woman for our times.  She didn’t ignore the dreadful things in life but she did try to find the good somewhere in everything. That seeking out the good bits means that life, on the whole, is splendid. If we didn’t ever notice or acknowledge the grim bits, it wouldn’t be life though would it? 

The death rate from this retched virus is higher than it should it have been, now that really makes me sad!  Had the government acted sooner, there would have been far fewer deaths. The Staying Home message worked.  It just needed to be applied sooner. However, I don’t blame the government for not doing more testing at the beginning.  They didn’t have the capacity.  Perhaps instead of creating the Nightingale Hospitals in record time, they should have got factories up and running to do testing and tracing.  Can you imagine though if we had not had enough beds and ventilators if we needed them?  They didn’t get it all right. Hind-sight is a wonderful thing.  However, the worry now is that they haven’t yet learned lessons.  The virus isn’t interested in blame or politics.  It needs cold hard facts and a calm cool head to outwit it.  I believe that will happen!  You see?  I am an optimist! 

Yesterday was a beauty. A perfect spring English day with a light breeze and warmth. We had breakfast in the garden. I never tire of the garden. The flowers, the trees, the birds and their friendly song, the gentle rustle of the leaves of the beech tree, the perfect blue of the sky – all of these things offer a gentleness and a hopefulness that is welcoming and enduring.  The tulips finish, and the roses now bloom. The cycle of life goes on.  We enjoyed Terry caught trout in the garden for dinner.  Not bad eh?

Apparently, according to the Psychologist Martin Selig, who is considered to be the father of Positive Psychology, we are able to become optimists.  We aren’t born that way! In my case perhaps it was my childhood role models – I guess I always believed that things get better, that happiness is something we can choose and love is what matters to all of us more than anything else.  It doesn’t mean we don’t cry or feel unhappy ever, but like Pollyanna we are able to choose to play the glad game. There is something besides optimism and pessimism though, and that’s where I increasingly find myself these days.  That’s realism.  Not a bad place to be.  I’m also prone to playing another game frequently these days – the grateful game.  There is SO much I’m grateful for!  And if you are reading this, you are one of the people I am grateful for.  Sadness arrives sometimes, but I promise, it never hangs around too long.  There are too many flowers to welcome, and people to reach out to and love. Big hugs and many kisses! 

With love

Kathy x