By: Claudia Ricci, Ph. D.
STOP TEXTING.
STOP PHONING.
STOP FACETIMING.
STOP SKYPING AND ZOOMING.
STOP POSTING ON INSTAGRAM.
STOP BUYING TOILET PAPER, EGGS AND MILK.
STOP BEING SCARED.
STOP ALL OF IT.
AS MY DAUGHTER’S HANDMADE SIGN
SUGGESTS:
JUST SURRENDER!
The world isn’t going to end today or tomorrow.
Oh, sure, maybe someday it will end, but what does it help
STOP WORRYING!
STOP HURRYING OUT.
Just stop and look at the beautiful snowflakes falling outside the window.
Breathe slowly.
Go nowhere but inside your heart. Stay there for a few minutes sending love to every single person you can think of.
Even those people you really don’t like. AT ALL!
As you mourn your job, and so much else that is lost,
remember, often,
that in the end there is nowhere at all to go or to get to
and there’s an eternity of time to do it.
BEGIN AGAIN
Moment after moment.
Keep coming back to yourself. Your heart beating. Your kitten breath.
PRAY FOR ALL OF THOSE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WHO ARE SUFFERING AND DYING TODAY.
SEND THEM COMFORT. BUNDLES OF LOVE AND KINDNESS.
SAY THANKS FOR ALL OF YOUR BLESSINGS.
AND NOW FOR CHRISSAKES
JUST STOP WRITING
JUST
SIT.
Bio: Claudia Ricci, Ph.D.
Claudia Ricci, Ph.D., was a staff writer for The Wall Street Journal and a prize-winning reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times, where one of her projects was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
Her novels include:
- Dreaming Maples, published in 2002, and nominated for a Pushcart Prize
- Seeing Red, January 2011
- Sister Mysteries, July 2018
Her short fiction has appeared in numerous literary magazines nationwide.
Ricci spent 15 years teaching English and journalism at the University at Albany and was a visiting professor for one year at Georgetown University.
To order her novels, visit her website at www.claudiajricci.com
Writers write in solitude. So use this time to write and submit.