by Nickie Kromminga Hill

Before I begin, I want to be perfectly clear: I hate COVID-19. Full stop.

But,

I love the positive changes that are happening.

My Facebook feed is FILLED with positive news stories, folks sharing their art, gorgeous photos of everyday life, silly memes to make each other laugh, and words of encouragement. People are expressing how they feel, and others are paying attention.

On my daily walk, I see that families have chalked up their entire driveways with beauty, there are words of support and cut-out hearts posted in windows, notes left for the mail-carrier, and strangers are looking one another in the eye and saying hello, chatting about how lovely the weather is.

My phone and email blow up daily with texts and messages from friends, acquaintances, and city- leaders checking in, seeing how we’re doing, and if we need anything.

We show up to meetings from the comfort of our homes that we haven’t cleaned, with our dogs barking and our kids interrupting us, and it’s all beautiful in its realness.

People have become gentler with themselves and gentler with one another. Grief is being shared openly, and people are truly listening. Ordinary things are being celebrated.

Again, to be clear, I hate the global pandemic, I love the kindness and sunshine.

But I wonder, why aren’t we always this wonderful to each other? Let’s really pause here and think about that question.

There are numerous answers, of course, and it varies from person to person. If I have to boil it down to one answer I’d say: because our values are mixed-up. As a society we value chock-full schedules, closing the deal, busy-work at school and office, appearing put-together, our kids getting the very best grades in school, securing the lead in the show, making the most money, finding the best filter for the ‘gram right after we get our hair done…..on and on and on and on and on.

But now? We can’t really do those things. Instead, we show up how we can when we can, and everyone is much more understanding because everyone is in a similar situation. We have different values now.

We are valuing “the sunshine.”

*****

This may seem like an ad for The Spread Sunshine Gang, but I’m ok with that! This everyday kindness, this gentler community-vibe, this “let’s do whatever we can to cheer someone up today” is EXACTLY what TSSG has been promoting for the past several years.

One of our mottos is “small gesture=big impact.” YES. Tiny things add up to big love. You may not have any money at all, but you’re on social media a ton. Keep sharing inspiring, positive, and fun news. Keep showing us your art.

You may not have any money at all, but you probably have a pencil and paper. Keep writing notes and stick them in the mail, write a thank-you to the mail-carrier, write words of encouragement and tape them in the window.

You may not have any money at all, but you can still go outside and say hello to everyone you see. You can still breathe in the fresh air and notice all the beautiful things in your neighborhood.

And you can do these things all of the time, not just when there is a crisis. You can always “promote the good instead of bashing what you hate.”

*****

When this is all done (and one day, it will be) I BEG you, keep the love going. Not just in the big ways, but in the tiny ways as well. It matters. You matter. Your words and your actions matter.

Sunshine. Always.