Aging with Grace

Awareness is like the sun. When it shines on things they are transformed.

Nhat Hanh

Looking back at this photo, I thought of a a quote from Monet about looking at colors, not objects. I can see how buildings could be seen only as an oblong of pink or a square of yellow. A deeper awareness of what we see around us and how we feel about it is a useful skill not just for an artist, but for all of us.

Hemingway wrote, Love in the Time of Influenza during the 1918 pandemic. He was quarantined with his sick child, wife and mistress. Still, he managed enough awareness to write. It’s unlikely many of us have the writing ability of Hemingway. That’s not to say we can’t display knowledge and understanding of the self isolation we are feeling, during this pandemic, and focus our attention on ourselves and how we are dealing with it.

 Introspection can make us uncomfortable. It’s easier to cover up our thoughts and feelings than to examine why we feel the way we do. Are we angry, lonely or maybe even happy to be forced to slow down and, depending on our situation, simplify our lives. Looking at our feelings can help us to have a better understanding of who we are. It might even help us to unpack some of the baggage we all carry with us and move forward less weighed down.