This goes out to all of the folks who celebrate or acknowledge Christmas and the holiday season. If you can not afford to deck your house with boughs of holly, don’t worry. If you can not access the Christmas merchandise that you would usually purchase, don’t worry. Please don’t worry about what you can not afford to buy at this time. Please don’t worry about keeping up with your usual start of December routine.

First off, majority of stores province wide do not consider Christmas decorations “essential needs” and those stores/sections in the store, have been yellow taped! You are not allowed to buy those things, in some of these stores, minus a handful of the franchise stores that you ARE allowed to. As a matter of fact, you can buy pretty much ANYTHING in those stores. The local and provincial news has been covering stories about “small business owners” speaking out about the unfair double standard. I have been following these stories religiously, and all of this blows me away.

I felt compelled to stop and take a photo of this local “non-essential” business in my neighborhood the other night. I don’t why, but something about this shop, closed down, abandoned , shutdown , yet still well lit. It truly touched my spirit…

It’s all beginning to feel like we’re trapped in a dark comedy movie. I truly feel that way. Day to day we are forced to watch the daily news, waiting for an insufferable press conference, for new updates.

The other day my friend texted saying that she’s really been feeling down, before I could respond, she said she felt bad for not being able to start putting up Xmas decorations. I had to tell her to not be too hard on herself, but allow her feelings to come through. I also reminded her that the second shutdown has thrown all of us OFF. Even me, who honestly saw it coming a mile away.

In the meantime, please do yourself not be hard on yourself, don’t add to the stress that by default, has being inflicted on us. Try to look out for your friends and family, especially the ones who are hip to the game.

I’ll leave it at that for now. Have a good night.

Take Care, Stay safe, and Stay tuned.

Love and Respect,

~Dawn Lovely