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Are you, or one of your children, afraid of the dark?  Do you rest better if there is a light in the next room, or a nightlight glowing so you can see where you are? Does your child ask you to leave the door open just a little, when they go to bed? When I watched the film "The Green Mile", one of the scenes that struck me was of the character, John Coffey, a huge muscular man convicted of murder, who was afraid of the dark.  A person one would think would not be afraid of anyone, wept at the thought of being in darkness alone.

The news these days is dire.  An illness, supposedly unlike anything we have dealt with before, is expected to have a huge impact on our world.  Drastic, harsh measures are being instituted, more every day, to attempt to slow the spread of this illness. We've been told to stay home -- from work, from school, from church, from weddings and funerals, from social events of every kind.  Everyone's life is on hold.  Seniors in high schools face their final year canceled, and graduations and parties delayed or done.  Ditto for college students, and athletes counting on a season of a lifetime have their highlight reels snatched away. Men and women lose their work and income. Those living paycheck to paycheck face financial ruin, and those who are well off see their savings dropping off a tax shelter cliff.  It is a stunningly disruptive and scary time. Dark, dark days.

We may face much worse than we know.  Yet, as long as the sun rises, and the world keeps spinning, we have hope. We have each other.  We are not living in darkness.  There are those who are working hard to keep our society going -- the health care workers who are on the front lines of sickness, the farmers and grocers who feed us, the public servants keeping us safe,  the transportation workers who bring supplies, the educators who work to keep our children learning, the religious leaders who lead us in prayer, and countless others who continue to do their part -- sometimes at risk to themselves for our sake.  

For artists who create, we are considered non-essential to survival. I suppose if we were all getting on the proverbial last ship out, we artists would not be considered important enough to take along.  We create non-essential luxuries.  We may depend on the income of these objects d'art to buy our groceries and pay mortgages, but in these times, we may find ourselves in deep water.  While we are facing dark days, and tough decisions, my hope and determined intent is to keep my art going.  To keep creating, even if the sky IS falling.  This time of unprecedented reaction, too, shall pass. One day, we will look behind us and be amazed at what we were able to do together to keep going. 

So, are you afraid of the dark?  Don't be. You aren't alone. Be assured, that we will see the other side of this, and life will be even more appreciated, even more treasured than before.