Silver Linings

Unprecedented times, with the strangest dichotomy playing out in our lives.

I’ve never witnessed the strength of collective humanity which the crisis of today has showered on us. One can’t possibly feel alone when nameless faces reach out to help in your hour of need and there is an undefined and unspoken machinery at work to save every life for yet another day. A common enemy to unite us all.

And yet, in the midst of this unity, the sufferer can’t help but feel lonely. The burden of life and the aftermath of loss are to be felt within, the grieving to be done in your own time and space. The irony of the circumstances isn’t lost on anyone when there isn’t a hand to hold when you need it the most. Connection is what we seek and it’s all that we lack with no time for closure and the discomfort of the unknown lingering on.

The pain is unbearable as personal pain is further amplified by universal pain. The record seems to be stuck and seems to playback the same song, albeit with a different name and life. There hasn’t been a time for greater empathy to be felt, yet with hands tied, the healing is left to the individual alone.

There’s little meaning felt in repeated words of solace, a numbness to this survival, a certain hopelessness in our eyes and yet, we have to move forward, if not move on with the remains of today, wondering where to start on this new, pale canvas with a shaky hand.

May the resilience of yesterday’s fight for them continue to carry us through to more familiar and certain shores against this tide. May this loneliness within create unbreakable strength to hold ourselves upright. May the comfort of our own embrace become a safe haven in our most testing times.

There is an impermanence in our being and with that, a sliver of hope of impermanence of this pain too. May the search for this deep-seated silver lining not be long and may our tired eyes spot them when we need it the most.