With all the craziness going on in politics, global warming, a scary pandemic, it’s easy to think everything’s going to hell in the proverbial handbasket. But as you look around today, you have two choices. You can see the glass half empty or the glass half full. Negative – with the sapping of psychic and emotional energy. Or positive, with the lifting of the spirit. I mean, wouldn’t spirit lifting be a healthier choice? Wouldn’t you kinda want that?

I am beginning to see that, even during the darkest times, there’s a silver lining. The bad stuff going on today, instead of pushing us apart, is pulling us together and challenging us to find joy in creativity and connection in the most wonderful ways.

There is the story about Shakespeare who, during the plague’s darkest hours, wrote “King Lear.” OK, so we’re not Shakespeare. But we all can be creative. I firmly believe we all have at least a few creative bones in our body. Creativity is the mother of joy.

Today we now have the opportunity to create our own messages in whatever medium we wish, to help alleviate the despair of these dark times. Reaching out to others and getting outside are also huge mood elevators. These hard times present us with the challenge and opportunity to counteract despair, to create our own messages of hope, to connect with others and get out into fresh air. That’s the silver lining.

Carollyn Butler Dow
Brunswick

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