Thanks so much everyone. I feel really heartened by all your kind comments and private messages from

Thanks so much everyone. I feel really heartened by all your kind comments and private messages from my post the other night. In retrospect, I see how a post with such a somber tone may have been a call for concern, especially since I haven’t posted in months. I really think it’s wonderful how members of this community and especially my friends within it are so ready to reach out to each other, even though we are separated by distance and by time.Things have been going OK for me. I’m fine - I really am :). The tone I intended to strike was more reflective rather than depressive. What I really wanted to avoid was a pithy, “everything will get better” message because I don’t believe things will just get better by themselves. My hope is that this is an opportunity to change the status quo. During these periods of recurring lock-downs, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I’ve appreciated the most and what I miss the most: -the access to open spaces, little dinner parties with friends, working less (even if it’s been non-voluntary in my case!) and having more time for other activities, etc. I also recognize that I’m lucky to already to be in a position where I feel relatively safe from crime (regardless of who is committing it), where I need not worry overly about sudden medical bills, and where I have enough income to meet my basic needs.It is painful to hear all the struggles that people have been going through during this time, and this why it is so heartening to see how people have reached out to support each other. Maybe one faint silver lining is that this may lead to much needed change. Change in how we look at and treat each other regardless of factors like wealth and skin colour; in how we think about building livable cities; in what we think about universal basic incomes; or maybe in the importance of preserving the environment. There is a lot of potential for us to build a better, kinder and more equitable society, and I sincerely hope that we as a species rise to the challenge. Again, I wish I had a magic spell that could just make everything better, but no one has that much power. I guess we will each have to continue in our own small way to work toward making things a bit better. A kind word, small gesture or little donation, might not seem like much in the face of everything that is going on today, but collectively I think we can make a difference.*photo by @shinycreature with latex from @latexcatfish -- source link

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