The Beauty in the Recession

Every cloud has a silver lining, so "they" say. 

I don't really understand what a "silver lining" is, though, so this one is more meaningful to me:

Back of the clouds, the sun is always shining.

I remember one particular time in my life when this was very clear to me.  It had been a pretty painful year, but I was in the process of healing, and I was on a business trip.  When I boarded the plane, the weather was cloudy and gray.  But sure enough, the plane flew through the clouds and then above them, and there it was - beautiful blue sky and brilliant sunshine.  My heart felt full of hope!  I started humming that phrase from an old hymn:

Back of the clouds, the sun is always shining.

Mmmm, it still lifts my heart just to sing it in my head!  Those words are part of the inspiration for the site design of The Stork Wearhouse. Can you see the rays of sunshine behind the clouds?

But let's bring it back down to earth again for a minute.  What does this have to do with the recession?  What is the "sun" shining behind this cloud?

We just finished doing both corporate and personal taxes for 2009, and let's face it, it wasn't a good year.  Really not.  But as my husband and I sat and got philosphical about the state of the economy, this is what we came up with. 

Our society had kind of gotten out of control.  Credit was very easy to get, both personal and business, and maybe we didn't think very carefully about how we spent money.  So the slow down felt pretty painful.  But as we recover, maybe we'll all come out of it with more perspective, a little wiser.  And we'll be more conscious about how we use money, about what and how we consume. 

Maybe we'll buy things that will last, that can be used over and over again.
Maybe we'll take time to reflect before we purchase, then acquire things we know will improve our lives.
Maybe we'll spend money on experiences, that will enrich our lives and expand our horizons.

Yes, we will all slowly start spending money again, but perhaps it will be more mindful.  And that could have wonderful implications for our children, our communities, and our planet!

Feel the joy. :-)