Vernal equinox : A Look Back at the Beginning of the Pandemic

In March 2020, I wrote my first blog. I had just begun to regain control of my panic disorder and depression when COVID-19 “officially” arrived. I was scared, but I was hopeful. I was hopeful then; I haven’t been in a while. I am sharing this as a prayer, that others felt as I did, and that we can retrieve that hope together in the coming months. We are better than 2020, and we need to prove that now.

March 23, 2020

It’s all changing so fast out there, isn’t it? The epidemic went to pandemic and then lockdown in a few weeks.

My heart started skipping successive beats again. I am grateful that I got my xanax refilled right before things started getting crazy out there. It takes about an hour to kick in; maybe a few minutes less if I chew it or put it under my tongue before swallowing. Its important to recognize how critical time feels when you’re waiting for something important.

There is a poignancy in the juxtaposition of the pandemic’s ‘arrival’ in North Texas. As I’m watching the case counts go up, I am also given time to watch flowers bloom and leaves return to the trees with my children. We just passed the vernal equinox, headed toward days filled with more light.

As we suffer and fear globally, stories of kindness, ecological restoration and even people reaching out across partisan lines to check on neighbors. People are offering to shop for others who cant or shouldn’t be out. Like we are waking up…