How to feel a little calmer while life has some challenges.

If this last pandemic year could be compared to taking a year-long cruise around the world, today we would be heading into Drake Passage, south of Cape Horn.  This notorious stretch of water lies between the southernmost tip of South America and the South Shetland Islands in Antarctica.  It is significant because the Atlantic Ocean converges here with the Pacific Ocean, creating some of the most difficult sea conditions in the world.  With no land mass to dampen the merging of two enormous bodies of water, waves of up to 12 metres are common.  The conditions are often described as between "bad and terrifying" unless you are one of the lucky travellers presented with calm conditions. As the UK government today abandoned all covid restrictions at the same time as infection rates are soaring, things are starting to feel rather unsettled again here in England.  It is as if the power of one "ocean" saying it is time to get "back to normal" is about to collide h

There seems to be hope in England that we are nearly over the pandemic now and that life is getting back to some form of normal.  For reasons beyond me, our government has planned a "Freedom Day" when we can lift all restrictions and enjoy life again on the 19th July.  Even when I first heard of this notion I was rather confused and just a little concerned.  Maybe I look at things from a more global perspective and am aware of how the pandemic is sadly far from over in many parts of the world.  But seemingly here in England, the end is in sight.  Or is it? Don't get me wrong, I would love to start hugging friends and be heading off to a yoga retreat if things were settling down here.  I am fed up with thinking about case numbers, testing and new variants.  Yet when I see crowds gathered at sporting events and busy pubs, my stomach lurches.  I have this familiar tension that starts to build as case numbers rise.  Doesn't anyone else seem to be concerned that we had ove