Around noon today, we had a good little earthquake. 4.6 (on the old scale). Enough to feel like a large truck hit the side of the building. Enough to make everyone come out of their offices and carrels to make eye contact with one another and attest to all being well. We discussed our choice of calamities – some preferred tornadoes to earthquakes, others were happier with hurricanes. I, for one, like less shape-altering choices. A simple rain or snow storm, for example.
But the point of the experience is worth noting: sometimes life events encourage you to stop and take notice. A little kindness, a little laughter, a little eye contact….these help calm us and give us the impetus to go forward. That is a form of transition! But because it is subtle, the transition is over overlooked. No one was hurt, nothing was broken, true, but there was a moment of halting, reconnecting, and then continuing.
Another form of this transition happened today: a phone call came, conveying news that a mutual friend had died last night. A friend we remember as vibrant, smiling, connected with life in a warm and engaged fashion. And now, we have but memories, the footprints of our friend’s journey through our world. To pick up and go forward is less subtle in this case, and the transition is blatant. Loss is palpable! Yet, there is a moment of halting, reconnecting, then continuing.