I used to think of going out for a daily walk as a bit of a luxury — you know… nice to do if you could swing it between working and grocery shopping and errands and dinner and Netflix. But living through a global pandemic has given me a new point of view. A walk is a necessity now – medicine for the soul – a chance to soak up the sun, breathe in the fresh air, and say hello to the people passing by.
It’s also, of course, a chance to look up at the sky. And whenever I do, I see the greatest birds I know hovering over the lake near my house: seagulls. I admire them so much… the way they glide and soar with their little feet tucked underneath them, up above the world below.
Today as I looked at the sky, the book Jonathan Livingston Seagull popped into my head. A chart-topping best seller in the 1970s, it’s about a seagull who longs to perfect the art of flying – not just the art of eating like the other seagulls.
“He learned that a streamlined high-speed dive could bring him to find the rare and tasty fish that schooled ten feet below the surface of the ocean…”
Thoughts of Jonathan led me to ponder life in this global pandemic and the lessons we’re here to learn. Maybe – just like that famous seagull – we’re meant to use this time we have to ourselves – to work on flying higher and faster and swooping and diving and just… well, becoming the best of who we are.
Call it food for thought. Call it a pandemic plan. Whatever you call it, it’s time for take off.
