A Full Moon, A Mum, and Other Signs...

There will be a full moon on October 31st this year – yes, that's right, a full moon on Halloween. I'm sure it has happened before and will happen again, but with all weirdness of 2020, it's just one more thing tickling our brain. Add to that the need to curtail trick-or-treating because of the need to social distance - well, let's just say this Halloween will be one to remember. Like the Memorial Day and 4th of July, that weren't and the summer vacation in our backyard. At this point, I’m with the folks who want to move on to Thanksgiving and Christmas. Two days where we remember all that is important to us and maybe take a bit of a breather from thinking constantly about COVID.

We will keep putting one foot in front of the other. It's hard some days. But then something happens that gives us pause – and hope. The other day I came home to a beautiful mum - buds unopened, sitting on our front porch. It took a moment to realize it was sitting alongside the other mums (also not yet opened). Puzzled, I picked it up and found a business card from the manager at a local bank. No note of explanation, just the card. I watered it along with the others, smiling at the good vibes this surprise gave me.

The next day I emailed the manager to thank her. I wondered what we had done to warrant this lovely gift. Her reply said: "The mum was given to you as a part of our Random Act of Kindness program- the Bank likes to do good things for the folks that live within our community. I am so glad it brightened your day." It certainly did.

Things like that happen all the time –in more subtle ways - but many times, we're just not paying attention to the signs. A butterfly lands on flowers being watered. All the lights turn green as we travel on our way. For some, finding a feather or coin is a good sign or perhaps a three-leaf clover. If only for a moment, stopping to appreciate our "good fortune" can change our outlook on the hour, day, week, month in front of us. Of course, stub your toe on the bedframe, drop your coffee, or misplace your keys, and it could portend a lousy day ahead. I try to put those behind me as quickly as I can.

I have a lava lamp on my desk. It’s been with me for years, moving from office to office, desk to desk. I've given it magical powers. If I turn it on and the bubbles of lava are small and sporadic, I become wary of a tough day ahead -technology glitches, problems with the car, being late for a meeting...you get it. But, if the lava is smooth, flowing, and in large globs moving serenely up and down, then all is right with the world, and I dive into my to-do list without hesitation. Silly? Oh yeah. But I swear it really happens. (I even had colleagues at work coming in to check on the lamp…)

Perhaps we attach too much to signs. After all, full moons happen every month, birds lose their feathers, coins fall out of pockets. Maybe we're all just searching for a way to make sense of the chaos. This year has been so challenging in so many ways, with so many things out of our control. Finding signs might help put it all in perspective. If that is the case, let's keep looking.