It’s a check-in. I don’t know about you, but if I get another email from law firms about the Coronavirus, I just might scream. This is not one of those emails. This is an email to find out how you all -- partners, clients, resource providers, colleagues -- are doing. I know good work is currently being done, primarily at the state and local level, to get information and resources to businesses, people, and organizations right away. This is a good thing. But some of this has turned to noise, and I can barely hear myself think. How about you?
What I want you to know is that I’m more concerned about your well-being, both physically and emotionally, than you meeting that deadline. I want you to know that the stress of caring for your elderly parents or young children is number one. And I want you to know that we’re all in this together.
More than anything, Plaka is built on connection to you and to your community. That matters more than ever as many of us and our neighbors are facing intense uncertainty. We are in this together, we are here for one another, and we will emerge from this different, but stronger.
Sending my best to you and your families.
Courtney
Lockdown, by Brother Richard Hendrick
Yes there is fear. Yes there is isolation. Yes there is panic buying. Yes there is sickness. Yes there is even death. But, They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise You can hear the birds again. They say that after just a few weeks of quiet The sky is no longer thick with fumes But blue and grey and clear. They say that in the streets of Assisi People are singing to each other across the empty squares, keeping their windows open so that those who are alone may hear the sounds of family around them. They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland Is offering free meals and delivery to the housebound. Today a young woman I know is busy spreading fliers with her number through the neighbourhood So that the elders may have someone to call on. Today Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples are preparing to welcome and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting All over the world people are looking at their neighbours in a new way All over the world people are waking up to a new reality To how big we really are. To how little control we really have. To what really matters. To Love. So we pray and we remember that Yes there is fear. But there does not have to be hate. Yes there is isolation. But there does not have to be loneliness. Yes there is panic buying. But there does not have to be meanness. Yes there is sickness. But there does not have to be disease of the soul Yes there is even death. But there can always be a rebirth of love. Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now. Today, breathe. Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic The birds are singing again The sky is clearing, Spring is coming, And we are always encompassed by Love. Open the windows of your soul And though you may not be able to touch across the empty square, Sing.