Let's Hew You

Who remembers the song, Seasons of Love, from the rock musical, Rent ?

Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes
Five hundred twenty five thousand moments so dear
Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure? Measure a year?

In daylights,  
In sunsets,
In midnights,
In cups of coffee,
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife

In five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure a year in a life?

How do you measure the past, how many months again? Let’s see, COVID-19 reached our shores in March 2020…so that’s 18 months. How many minutes is that now? Does anyone even know how many minutes it’s been since the beginning of the pandemic, not just for Trinidad and Tobago, but for the world? Has anyone been counting?

How many daylights, sunsets, midnights and cups of coffee have passed since it all began? If only this were a 2, or even 3-hour blockbuster movie…at least we would know it’s been either 120 minutes or 180 minutes right? But, no such luck.

No, this pandemic has gone way past 525,600 minutes.

What has been your experience of it? I sometimes compare it to the after-bits trailing movie credits nowadays: just when you think the credits have ended, there’s the scene that tells you ‘This ain’t over yet; there’s more to come.’

Maybe some of us compare what we’re experiencing to a prisoner in solitary confinement tallying the passing days on the wall. How may have you tallied thus far?

525,600 minutes and counting.

525,600 minutes and counting, because no one knows when this will be over for the world. Even countries that have had generally good experiences of it are periodically flung back into lock-downs.

I don’t know about you, but I sometimes tire of it. I sometimes grow weary of it. I sometimes wonder ‘Are we there yet?’ Have we not yet come to the end of this ‘moment’ in time? Have we not yet gotten over this? When will it end?

Well, no one really knows how many more minutes before the end of this sordid saga in the history of humankind. I’m not about to wager. I’m not about to guesstimate. No, rather, I will count:

• the family nights I’ve enjoyed with my children
• the many moments enjoying nature
• the moments that take my breath away
• the signs of well-being for which I have to be grateful
• the loved ones who still surround me
• the pounds I’ve lost (FINALLY!)
• the mercies that I have enjoyed
• the sunrises that I’ve witnessed that reassure me that life continues

I’m sure, whatever the final duration of the pandemic, there’ll be more than 525,600 things for me to cherish.

So, 525,600 and counting…with pleasure.

I invite you to enjoy your counting as well.

Until next time.