The space in between

Have you ever noticed that in writing, the parentheses often bookends the interesting details, the context, the stuff that makes the sentences rich?

I’ve been thinking about parentheses recently. I’ve been thinking about my life recently too. I’ve been thinking about this upside-down world and how to find the parentheses (the tranquil, quiet minutes and the loud, glorious moments)—the things that capture who we are amidst the now.

Friends and family voice fear, confusion, frustration, grief.  Time is lost as we watch the supposed-to-be  moments floating away like clouds. We are all talking about the hurt. Some louder than others. Yet it all whispers pain.

.

But smiling, shiny moments upstage the rest. Babies born. Children playing outside.  Families playing games. People locking arms for change. Kindness to strangers. Facetime wine dates. Intimate weddings. Neighbors acting like neighbors. Sigh-worthy rainbows.

I don’t know why things happen. (It seems random but not). If I listen too hard the cognitive dissonance behind my eyes is blinding so I focus on small things. Swinging on my porch watching the trees. Reaching for the book of poetry beside my bed. Morning coffee in the shower. Laughter with my son. Dreams with my daughter. Text messages with my mom. Bellowing rainstorms. A bird hopping onto my hand. (My own love story).

So what is the sentence and what is the parenthesis?  My hope for the people I love is that their paragraphs are not made of stressangerdepressionillnesslonelinessdespair. I want the paragraphs to be the beautiful things we create in our minds and lives. Yes…the painful parentheses are there. But the jarring depth of what is hard brings into focus what we must do to thrive. 

Every sweet breath keeps us alive. Not the dark spaces in-between.