By SUSAN DROMEY HEETER, Joyful Musings

I asked a friend what her favorite part of the pandemic was.  Without hesitation, she remarked, “No night meetings.” 

When I asked her her least favorite part, she acknowledged the tragedy of lost lives, lost income and lost social lives but to her, her least favorite part? “Not wearing lipstick.” 

It’s funny what we’ve grown used to in this year of shut down, masks, pandemic. I know my favorite part of the pandemic are walks, the quiet I’ve embraced, simple art projects, wearing comfortable shoes ALL the time. 

I do miss smiling at people, laughing, drinking coffee with friends. I miss spontaneity and joy of lots of people. I miss crowds, New York City, chatting with people in lines.

And today I muse joyfully on both sides of a situation, of embracing the necessity of change, of adaptation, of simplicity. 

I look at children wearing masks and think, “this is their normal, their reality – some so young they really do not know any different.”

  And I think of children who have and are growing up in war torn parts of the world, assuming bombs and destruction and death is entirely normal.

Today I muse joyfully on embracing what is, who we are, putting expectations aside and remembering the good in all. We are not at war. 

We can wear lipstick on Zoom.  We can walk in mittens and hats.  We can wear masks.

  We can hope. We can muse joyfully on who and where we all are and know this, too, shall pass.