
March is not an easy month for me. I cannot tell you why. I am not sure. Maybe an astrologer could point to the configuration of celestial bodies and explain how this or that planet rising in tandem with whichever moon moving into a house of something else has caused March to perpetually just kinda suck a little bit. Maybe I’ve cemented the idea in my head that March is difficult, so I unconsciously make it that way for myself. Whatever the cause, March is often suboptimal, and this year has been no exception.
The past two weeks have hosted some bike troubles, some tough goodbyes, some disappointing cancellations, some “Delhi Belly,” and a fair amount of anxiety about the general state of the world, travel, and home. And I know that I am not alone this year in my own personal March Madness. As Universities cancel classroom lectures in favor of zoom video conferences, I see my friends posting about their frustration, angst, and uncertainty. The New York Times “Breaking News Updates” concisely share how the economy has begun to dip, and I hear comments about school tuitions and student debts tossed around.
Yet, amidst the panic and the March of it all, I somehow feel impossibly optimistic. Somehow, I am sanguine. And often, just as this sense of positivity starts to fade or gets trumped by spirals of consternation, it is buoyed back up by the decency of others. This month, more than any other thus far on Bridge Year, I have begun to take note of the everyday kindnesses that take place all around me. The humanity and consideration that allow people to live just a little bit easier.
The following are some such instances:
These are merely a few examples of an ever present decency and kindness that turn a March day into a Spring day, and keep me looking forward to tomorrow.