Happy April! Happy first Five Minute Friday of the month!

You know the drill. We get our weekly prompt, let the spirit flow for five minutes, post, link up in the Community section at fiveminutefriday.com, and — best part — visit other writers in our to support and encourage them.

For the past few months, I have also been sharing testimonials from fellow writers as outlined in Five Minute Friday: A Collection of Stories Written in Five Minutes Flat, compiled  by Susan Shipe. This week, I’ll share some words from Marie’s heart.

“The very first time I ever participated in Five Minute Friday, I stumbled upon the group just days after I found out about my liver problems which meant I had to go off the medications I was taking at the time. I  had no idea that those initial days were just the first of what would be a two years (and counting) journey. The words here reveal more about me than I could  ever share through speech — a frightening thing for a reserved person such as myself. I pushed aside the fears and decided to be vulnerable, to put myself out there with this new group of people. They embraced me. I have not once regretted diving into this beautifully messy and wonderfully weird community. #bacon. They know why.”

That’s common – reaching out and absorbing the  love of this community. That’s why I heartily encourage you to join us. It is a “beautifully messy and wonderfully weird community.” And we’d love to have you in our circle … especially in these uncertain times!

With that, I’ll get off the soap box and down to work. The prompt is NOW. The timer has been set, so let’s see where the neurons GO...

Now what.

We’ve been pretty much cooped up in our houses for a coupe of weeks and look forward to about another month of restricted movement.

What are we going to do now? Relish the quiet time? Fill our lives with hyperbole? Waste time on social media? Interact with those sheltered in place with us? Reflect? Refresh? Look forward? Look back?

These are scary times. Most of us have had breaks from home — even if those breaks were for school or work. Now were crammed together with different age appropriate activities. I mean you can’t watch Ozarks with pre-teens running around. How many times have we watched Frozen? Kids and romance don’t necessarily mix.

We need the breaks. That’s what I fear most about this pandemic. While I am all for togetherness with the family, we also need outside … STOP

… socialization. We need our friends. Of course, we still have them — and probably even more through social media. It’s important we stay in touch with our close friends, lift them up, just chat with them. It’s a time to maybe rekindle relationships with long lost friends. Find them through social media and say hi while catching up on the gaps between visits.

I’ve been doing some of that. I’ve also been doing some reassessment about what and who is important in my life. Being retired, I have found sheltering in place less onerous than many — it’s generally been my life anyway — although I readily admit I miss just going for a ride or the movies or out for a sit-down dinner.

I wonder how people will react after we look at this pandemic through the rear view mirror. It will come to an end. Will we — starting with me — have learned anything about ourselves? Will we {me} use this forced time out to focus on ourselves or society in general? Will we become more self-centered with an emphasis on things or less self-centered with an emphasis on others? Will we re-prioritize our lives or jump back into business as usual? Will we look at the heroes of this pandemic — the scientists, doctors, nurses,hospital staff, first responders, essential line workers, truckers, restaurant staff — differently, maybe with a little more respect? Will we recognize a job is just a job and the heart of existence is our interdependence with each other — starting with our family unit? Will this experience strengthen our faith or weaken it?

The next few months will tell. But the time to start dealing with those issues is now.

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: You can’t always help what you hear, but you can help what you say!