Finding Calm Amid Crisis
My aunt has a story she often tells about two weeks we were together when I was a toddler. My parents were working, and it seems my aunt and I spent a lot of time at the pool at her home. Whenever we got there, she says, she’d have to jump in right away so that she’d be in the water to catch me when I quickly and inevitably flung myself in.
Though I can’t remember it, I can easily imagine the scene. Many of my favorite childhood memories are from pools, or the creek near my parents’ house, or the beach a short drive away. I’ve always felt the pull of water.
Now, as I find myself, like so many others, stuck at home and trying to navigate an uncertain time, I find this pull even stronger. I’ve been spending evenings by the water’s edge near my home in Richmond, CA, watching the San Francisco Bay. I’ve re-discovered paddle boarding. I’ve found myself yearning to jump in the water, even more so this week as I edited a piece, forthcoming in the Journal, about the soothing effect of blue spaces.
I hope you have something that soothes you, too, as we live through this crisis. And I look forward to a time when we can once again flock to beaches, and parks, and lakes and enjoy them together.
Zoe Loftus-Farren
Managing Editor, Earth Island Journal
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