So, a little virus has brought mankind to its knees. Over the Christmas and New Year break many of us will have been reflecting on the extent to which the pandemic has changed our lives.

As we contemplate, perhaps even dare to plan, the year ahead, the wise amongst us will be wondering how we can take this opportunity to make long-term and meaningful changes. Changes, for example, that will enable us to address mental health issues and improve our quality of life; day in, day out. How many of us survived the last 9 months is not sustainable, is it!

Changes too that will help us manage the climate emergency. Just as we are having to accept that we cannot control the coronavirus and it’s mutations, so too do we need to understand that we cannot control the climate. That, at best, what we can do is find better ways of working with the Natural World; listening to it deeply, connecting, tuning in . . .

And to do that will help us to be more present, more connected in all that we do; our paid work included.

For example, I happened to be having breakfast as the sun was rising over the rooftops that I can see from our dining table. During the time between spreading my first dollop of marmalade to finishing my last spoonful of nut clusters, the sun had progressed noticeably. Or rather, the Earth had revolved.

The earth had revolved.

To be reminded that we are on a spinning planet in a middle of an expanding solar system was a bit of a wake-up call. It reminds us that in the cosmic scheme of things very little that we do as humans has any impact what so ever.  . . 

That humble position strikes me as a wonderful one from which to start 2021.

Sunrise. Sunset. One planetary revolution at a time . .