Member-only story
My daughter started back to school this week. Our district offered a choice: attend in-person or school online from home, and we chose the latter, feeling less-than-confident about the school’s ability to adequately sanitize and social distance a crowded high school. So, from the safety of our dining room table, my daughter’s senior year is underway.
The privilege of having this option isn’t lost on me. I realize just how fortunate we are that she can spend the next two months schooling from home while we wait to see what Covid-19 is going to do next. So yes, I am deeply grateful.
But even as I’m counting our blessings, I’m painfully aware of the challenges we face. Money is tight. Business is slow. The economy is struggling. Politically, we can’t agree on anything. And, well… Covid. The world as we know it will never quite be the same again.
I know I’m not alone in my anxiety. I know we’re all feeling the weight of uncertainty and it’s hard to plan a future when everything about that future is up in the air. So, we start looking for signs. Signs that tell us which way to go. Signs that show us how to mitigate our stress.
Signs that tell us everything will be okay.
But some signs aren’t so blatantly comforting. In fact — just the opposite — some signs…