Many years ago, I came across a talk by Barbara Sher on the local PBS station. I remember being mesmerized by the earnestness of a woman of a certain age, speaking animatedly of not wasting one’s gifts and the importance of doing something about those gifts right away.
It was a revelation to me at the time that dreams can be realized in different ways, big or small, and having trouble choosing a path in life does not equate one to failure. Everything about Barbara Sher seemed enlightened, actualized. When I learned of her passing on Mother’s Day (May 10, 2020), I finally realized that she had been like a spiritual fairy godmother to me.
One of the exercises in her book about Scanners asked the reader to list ten professions/roles in the context that if one had ten lives to live, what would those ten lives be? I don’t recall the full list from years ago, but I know that I am living one of them right now as wife/mother. In honor of Barbara’s life work, perhaps it is time for another visit to this exercise.
This Monday marks the first outing with kids to a friend’s yard for a quick visit, social distancing style. I’m grateful for friends who honor my request for meeting outside in the wind and taking care to play with the kids without too much physical contact. Life certainly seems different these days, and I cherish every day that I can squeeze my babies without reservation because I have minimized my exposure to germs/virus by suspending in-person interpreting for the hospital.
Health in the U.S.A. is earned instead of given the consideration as basic right. I have no idea if and when that mentality will change.