Time to Lighten Up

"In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer." Albert Camus, philosopher and author

Whatever you celebrate or have celebrated this December — Hanukkah, the winter solstice, Christmas, Kwanzaa, chances are this year the festivities will all have two things in common; they will likely be celebrated much differently than usual, and they will involve light – candlelight, firelight, twinkling light, and this year, the light of the “great conjunction” of Jupiter and Saturn.   Such lights have traditionally served as symbolic reminders that together we will get through the darkness. 

Indeed, it is perhaps poetic justice that as we reach the longest night of the year and are in the “longest night” of the pandemic, there comes the “light” of the approval of a 2nd vaccination against COVID-19, with more likely on the way.  And with that news, a tangible reminder that just like the darkness of winter, we will get through the darkness of this pandemic as well.  Though the details of the timeline to that end are still unclear, there is a sense of new hope in the midst of feelings of weariness, helplessness, and distress.     

But seeing the end is not the same as being there, and multiple COVID-19 projection models indicate that for many parts of the country, there will be much more pandemic “darkness” to come.  We’re not there yet.  We will have to go through winter before we get to spring … and summer. 

So how can we individually and collectively access that “invincible summer” that is within all of us and keep our lights shining through the depths of this pandemic winter?  A few things will be important.  First, it cannot be done alone.  We will need to tap into our collective hope and strength – to pick others up and allow ourselves to be picked up, as we will all likely stumble at times along the way.  We will also need to keep regularly encouraging each other, reminding that we can and will get there.   At the same time, we will need to support each other and allow for individual and collective grief, as the personal and communal impact of this pandemic have been and will continue to be quite real.    

We are now well into the 10th month of a journey that was only faintly if at all on our “radar” when we started 2020.  Six months from now, at the time of the summer solstice, we will be in a very different place than we are today.  What those summer celebrations will look like depends on the decisions we make now.  As we are presently in the midst of literally the darkest days of the year, now is the time for each of us to bring out our brightest Light and together shine into that darkness … it is indeed time to Lighten up.