Beacons of Hope

Sometimes you just have to write, talk, sing or dance – do whatever it takes to make you happy.

If we allow it, social distancing might suck us into depths of despair. For some, the consequences of distancing might lead to pain, and some won’t recover because they need the social to survive. Yet the positive socials can be found in the most unlikely of places thanks to the power of technology.

Almost two weeks ago, we were told that restrictions had been applied to protect us. Some people didn’t take them seriously and the restrictions were tightened. In the last 24-hours, we have discovered that two weeks have been added. One French department have banned alcohol. Fear is rife. That’s a dark intro to a positive post isn’t it?

On Saturday night I went to a party. We had a few drinks, ate some nibbles, shared a few laughs and perspectives. An on-call ICU doctor from Hamburg, Germany shared her experiences while her eight-year old daughter sat on her lap. Another told us how as a student at university in Sienna, Italy, she had been told to go home – all the way to Saint Petersburg, Russia. Flight prices are incredibly inflated. Now she’s isolated in a cabin in a forest.

Ulf made us laugh with his story about how he had traveled from Sweden through three countries to get home because he had been advised to leave. He doubts that he will have a business to go back to. That part wasn’t funny.

A Mexican friend joined the party a few minutes after he got home from his daily run and poured himself a tequila and showed us the beautiful view of his slice of Mexico from his apartment window.

Jean-Christophe and his wife invited us to go outside to their balcony. It was time to applaud the emergency services, hospital teams, grocery store workers . . . they do this every evening at 8:00 pm in Luxembourg. He turned up the volume on his laptop so his neighbors could hear our small worldwide party community applauding the people of Luxembourg. They returned the gesture and shared the love.

The party continued for an hour. Some told jokes, shared funny stories. We talked about hope and change. Debated a little whether the world would change once this pandemic is over. We listened to opinions, shared our own, not once did anybody try to assert their opinion over that of somebody else. There was no distancing caused by opinion here and we each learned something about life outside our borders.

This was a night to remember. Together we can keep the lights of positivity burning if that is what we choose.

Stay safe, share the love