One of the things that a longer break can allow for is a certain amount of reflection and reconsideration.  That’s something needed for Our Current Moment, I think.  So much of the last six months has been about trying to stay afloat, maintaining as much a sense of normal as possible.  And that has definitely been a worthy challenge.  Part of the tension of Our Current Moment, though, is whether or not anything like “getting back to normal” will ever actually happen.  What residual things will outlast the solutions of the moment?  And what opportunities are being presented to us through our experiences and (hopefully) gained wisdom?  That works on a number of levels: personal, spiritual, physical, vocational, you name it.  The challenge, then, is to make the time and find the people and the framework to engage in such necessary conversations.  I think that’s part of why I read what I read: reading is a way for me to engage the thoughts of others when I can’t necessarily find that engagement elsewhere.  It’s good to have the window of a week to reflect, to reconsider, and to move forward.  I hope to make something of it.