Don’t Panic

A couple of months back, I purchased a “Don’t Panic” shirt pin. For those of you who don’t recognize the phrase, it comes from “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams. When I purchased the pin, it fit my mood perfectly. After wearing it a couple of days and receiving many comments on it (most knew the source material but not everyone), it became apparent to me that the phrase fit most peoples’ moods. This was way back in December when things looked dark, pandemic dark, Covid dark, when will this all end dark. And now…well, not so much.

Peoples’ moods seem lifted. A bit lighter. A bit more spring in their steps. This, of course, is all anecdotal and completely unscientific. But that’s what my experience has been over the past few weeks. The “how is the world doing as judged by the smiles (or lack there of) of people who come into the library”-o-meter is definitely on the upswing. It’s tentative, yes. It’s not a huge shift, true. We still have a long way to go, of course. But, for the first time in a long time it seems like things are getting better. The days are getting longer. The sun is shining more. People are laughing more again.

That’s it. That’s all I wanted to say.