that little voice

What’s next?

This question came up in a recent Zoom discussion I had with friends causing me to wonder about how I want my life to be when the pandemic is over.

What do I miss, and will I be able to go back to doing what I liked before this self-isolating began?

One of my favorite activities is eating out with friends. I like sitting at a table, across from someone I know or want to get to know and exploring our commonalities and our differences.

And I have enjoyed traveling, either alone or with someone, preferably by car or train. Rail travel conjures up great train rides my sister and I took as children to visit our grandparents. An all-day trip from the Texas panhandle to eastern Oklahoma allowed us to roam unsupervised from the dining car through several passenger cars, exploring the wonders of the giant machine and observing bits and pieces of life in the small towns, cities and farming communities we passed through.

I wondered as I gazed at the passing landscape and caught glimpses of people going about their lives if they would remember looking at the train as I would recall this day.

And today, I wonder if I will ride another train going from point A to point B and onto points C, D, E...viewing new scenes and catching snatches of other people going about their business.

I want to settle in on a train and cross mountains, plains, gullies, desserts, once again getting a taste of life in different parts of the world.

Will travel be as accessible ‘after pandemic (AP)’ as it was ‘before pandemic (BP)’? Will I be able to investigate the secrets of Peru, or hike the hills of Scotland, bike across Holland, or feel the emptiness of the Sahara sand dunes?

Is visiting a friend in a nursing center going to be possible without gowns and face masks firmly affixed to one’s face?

What will life be like AP?

Is my behavior going to change? And if so, in what way?

The questions await answers, and no one seems to have a description of a clear path forward.

I’m left with the query What’s next?

Our country and the world are at a crossroad looking at multiple paths forward. Do we work together, or stay divided? Do we believe in and work toward consensus or pick the fork that insists on ‘my way or the highway’? Have we lost trust in each other never to be restored?

Many people believe we can choose, right now, right here, how we want the world to work. We can decide if we believe in freedom for all, if we want everyone to have equal rights, if all of us have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit. They believe there is enough wealth in our world so no one goes hungry, no one is left homeless, no one must suffer oppression or cruelty. Will we have peace, or must we fight?

The future is up to each of us. How often have we heard and said this? But this is the time when we, as a universe, can determine how we share this planet, and what dogma of fairness and equality we embrace.

Fear abides in each of us, especially when we question our futures. But we must ask ourselves, What’s Next?

How do you see the world next year? What do you want the world to look like in 20 years?

Is how we are living today working for you and for all those around you? Can the world be better?

If so, what is your role in making it better?

What is next? You decide.