First off I want to start by wishing each of you a very Happy Easter! I am feeling such a mix of emotions about the holiday this year. I feel sad that we can't have a "normal" Easter with our family. We usually go to my parents and we watch our little girl run around with her cousins as they search for eggs in their huge backyard. My Dad always gets a couple big chocolate bunnies and he hides them in the craziest spots. As kids on our farm one year he climbed up into our riding arena's rafters and put the bunny 20 feet above our heads! Last year he put one of the bunny's way down the driveway in their mailbox. It is such a fun day with them and the kids have the best time. We always finish off the crazy egg/bunny hunt with a nice family dinner. We gather around the table and just enjoy each others banter. I'm missing that this year. It almost doesn't even feel like a holiday or a day to celebrate.
But...the other part of me and the part I want to focus on is the part that feels hope. Hope for humanity and hope for a better world ahead after this quarantine ends.
If you are Christian the true meaning of today is the resurrection of Jesus. He is Risen (Matthew 28:6) If you look to the meaning of Easter, how could you not see hope? We too will overcome our current state, we will rise above this virus and we will be a better world.
I am seeing so much hope particularly in my local community of Paris. Just this week Chauncey had gone to the grocery store and I forgot to put chocolate Easter eggs on the list. I really didn't want him to go back out again so I reached out to our local Mom's group and asked if anyone could pick some up for me. I had so many offers of help and chocolate eggs were dropped on my doorstep that very night. We just got a delivery yesterday from our neighbours of some amazing bread from our local bakery and a gift from our local church for Mckenna to open on Easter morning.
Our Mom's group asked if as a community we could decorate our windows with Easter eggs, bunnies, crosses or anything to help celebrate the day. Our kids are now able to do a local Easter egg hunt in the neighborhood to "hunt" for eggs. Is it the same as the celebrations we had planned in town? Is it the same as having all our kids together hunting for eggs side by side? No, but it is a sign that we are all in this together. Yes the world might look a little different right now and a bit scary, but the connection to each other is strong. The connection to our community and our neighbours is strong. I'd argue that it's even stronger now than before the quarantine.
I try everyday to find hope. I find it easy on some days to find that hope but on other days I'm feeling much more sadness than hope and that's OK. What helps me to stay hopeful is the feeling of gratitude. I have a gratitude journal and each day I write a minimum of 5 things I am grateful for. If you don't want to journal, maybe just say them in your head first thing in the morning when you wake up or the last thought you have before you fall asleep. Gratitude will give you hope and lead you to having more joy.
Happy Easter Everyone!
Comments