Extraordinary times see ordinary people doing extraordinary things. And so despite the pessimism, the constant examples of care in the community offer considerable optimism.

Small groups of people are springing up with offers of help to those who have needs or find themselves on their own. Thus dark clouds are transformed with silver linings and I cant help but feel joy and faith in the future.

We need to find better descriptions for human beings than those written albeit poetically by Shakespeare when he describes the acts of humans as folly and as quickly forgotten just as fast as they were done:

“Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing (Macbeth Quote (Act II, Scene I).”.

We can console ourselves with other great works that have described apocalyptic events and found the best (and the worse) in human nature. I am reminded of Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road” – which people love and people hate. I love the description of parental love which oozes throughout the novel made more potent due to its backdrop: a worldwide calamity.

I have yet to do big events with big significance but have done many small events with small significance and for the moment I am satisfied with that. Learning to live with blame and responsibility, but quietly and without resorting to anger – that alone makes life significant.

We don’t know what the future brings – catastrophe and redemption sit alongside each other and we can all strive to performing small events which have great significance.