Moving Forward

I was having a Facebook conversation the other day and topic of "moving forward" came up. The friend said (paraphrasing) "must we all move forward, maybe I just want to sit on the sidewalk or wait back in the car. Would that be so bad?"

I thought about it. My immediate thought was "of course we have to press forward." Then I thought about it a bit more deeply and realized we are all moving through life at our own paces. That's true always, but even more so during the past 22 months.

I reminded myself that moving forward looks different for everyone. 

It looks different every day for the same person. 

For me some days it means getting out of bed, brushing my teeth, and putting my hair in a ponytail (brushing hair is optional). Somedays it might mean staying in bed and sleeping to catch up on energy and heal (physically, mentally, and/or emotionally). 

But I took a step forward. 

Today's step forward might mean reading about what others are doing (I recommend Ken Davenport's posts about producing Broadway shows), but not moving towards doing your own show. 

It might mean renovating your physical space so you are ready to fill the seats in a space that better fits your needs.(Newtown Arts Company in Newtown, PA did an amazing transformation while closed). 

Yes, you can catch up later and still move forward. We all go at our own pace.

We are all moving through this next stage at our own pace. I've returned to indoor dining and having my hair done. For some of my friends, that is scandalously scary behavior.

I have friends who travel -- even internationally. THAT sounds overwhelming to me.

It is amazing how we each have our benchmarks for safe behavior, and how much those benchmarks can shift on any given day. 

Something I was told in March 2020 was that the Spanish Flu gave way to the Roaring 20s. I can't wait to see what is coming out of this time of forced change.