It was a New Time ; It was an Old Time

It was a new time, it was an old time.

It was a strange, in between time.

We are in a new season of transition, one we have not experienced in our lifetimes before. Exiting a global pandemic isn't something we have had to think about before this year. This is the chance for a reset in how we do things, as a whole. My big question is - do we make meaningful, thoughtful changes to the way we did things before?

In the spirit of Charles Dickens' opening lines to A Tale of Two Cities ("It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...") can we see the contrasts of our last 14 months with fresh eyes to keep the good hanging around before it all goes back to the normal it is all rushing back to? I don't discount the loss and the pain of this last year in any way, but there are good things that can come out of a tough time, and I think history shows that in ways of innovation, poetry, story, and other creative acts of community. 

When we are forced to look at our comfortable way of life in an alternate way (with a newly revised sense of appreciation) our brains begin to formulate and ponder in a different way. Sometimes periods of trial forces upon our human nature something uncomfortable, hopefully resulting in a sense of ingenuity and creativity as we move through it. 

We humans have a great sense of resilience and comradery. In times of crisis, the importance of looking beyond ourselves fills the spirit. That quickly leaves the atmosphere in times of prosperity, though. It almost seems like we are right on the cusp of understanding this.  

Can we embrace the new time and the changes we will implement, as well as hold onto the good of the old? In a similar sense, can we embrace the old time whilst holding onto new goodness that can come through creative changes to lead to something better for all of us? 

These are just some muddy musings I ponder (in very general terms because there are multilayered elements of thought)  as I see things pushing forward. I don't pretend to have answers, but I take the advice of Rainer Rilke in his Letters to a Young Poet, to live the unanswered questions, to dwell in them. Let the unanswered questions live out as they unfold and some day we may live into the answers.