Thoughts in the Time of Rona

 Dear readers,

Since my last entry in January, which was optimistic and carefree, we are now in the midst of a world-wide pandemic that has changed all of our lives.  For my entry today I wanted to reflect on a quote from one of my favorite movies The Sound of Music:  "When the Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window."

Since Coronavirus has taken the world over and health and safety protocols restrict anything and everything we do in some way, I have lost the following:

- the ability to teach voice lessons in person

- being able to sing each week with my brothers and sisters in the Tabernacle Choir

- a lot of my drive to practice my singing and keyboard skills

- for a little while, even my sense of knowing who I am and what I am working for (without live music performance in my life, this got lost)

- my confidence in knowing that I know how to teach secondary level vocal music

Now you may be thinking, wow is he going crazy?  Has he lost the will to keep on going?  Will he be able to sustain this way of life we are all now subjected to?  Not to worry, I am not out of the woods yet, but I have been able to learn a few things along the way while it seemed like our whole lives were being changed permanently.  My sweet mother has always encouraged me to count my blessings, especially when you feel you are at your darkest moments.  So now I will attempt to list the things that I have gained from the experience of dealing with Coronavirus life:

- the ability and time to slow down, be still, and know that He is God

- the opportunity to develop some new talents and interests, primarily in visual arts

- the luxury of enjoying a beautiful comfortable home of my own that I can live in

- silence and solitude in abundance (two luxuries I prize highly in my busy life)

- new knowledge about and opportunity to ponder on simple gospel truths contained in the Book of Mormon

- the simple joy of being able to go ride a few good rollercoasters whenever I wanted (less possible now that school is starting yet again, but still not out of reach)

- the challenge of developing new facets and methods to my teaching toolbox, and sharpening my skills I worked so hard and paid so much to acquire

- more time to go share snuggles with my two beautiful nieces

- more time to nurture and cultivate my relationships with my family (I once received a fortune cookie that said "Your family is one of nature's masterpieces.", and I definitely agree)

- finally, much more opportunity to take hard looks in the mirror and make changes as I need to in order to become my best self for myself and also any potential partners in the future

I am so grateful for the knowledge that I possess about life and why we are here.  Businesses may shut down, laws may change, disease may run rampant, but love never ends.  Stay strong my friends.  We can get through this.  More to come...