One summer day, three years ago, we were sitting out in the garden having lunch. Here in the Charente there is a particular variety of melon – the Charnetais melon. It’s the perfect size to cut in half, scoop out the seeds, and fill the middle with Pineau (a local drink produced by the surrounding vineyards). An easy and delicious dish.
We have several Buddleia bushes in the garden and they attract a lot of butterflies and humming-bird moths.
On this particular occasion, this butterfly decided to join us for lunch, and flew down onto the melon my daughter was about to eat (she seems to attract butterflies even better than the buddleia bushes do, by the way). The butterfly took its time and enjoyed the Pineau – can you see how its proboscis is disappearing down into the alcohol?
This little episode made the lunch experience even better. It added to our pleasure, our delight and our senses of wonder and joy.
As I look at this image again today I’m struck by how the key theme seems to be sharing.
We were happy to share our lunch with the butterfly. More than that, sharing our lunch made the lunch even better.
Isn’t that often the case with sharing? Isn’t a drink, a coffee, a meal, enhanced when we share it with those who we love?
This has been one of the greatest challenges of the pandemic so far, and I suspect it’s going to remain a significant issue for many months to come. Because of enforced distancing, lockdowns, experiences of deaths of loved ones, we’ve been living more isolated lives. Yes, probably we’re all using messaging apps more, using video links more, maybe making more contact over all than we did before but it’s different isn’t it? Yes, we can have a “video party” together and it can be fun. Yes, we can share a “video apero” with friends and catch up. But there’s a lot of everyday, ordinary sharing which we did together that has been put on hold.
However, isn’t one of the most striking features of this pandemic the extent to which so many human beings are prepared to look out for other people, to care for other people, to even put their lives on the line to heal other people?
Isn’t one of the most striking features how scientists around the world have shared their knowledge, ideas and research results with each other?
Isn’t one of the most striking features how governments and their central banks have suddenly discovered they can find the money to support individuals and businesses during these enforced closures?
This is where my hope lies. I know the forces of greed and privilege are still as active as ever. I know the forces of prejudice and injustice are as active as ever. But we have a chance to blow on these positive embers of sharing and see if we can make them glow brighter.
We don’t need to go back to competitive, selfish, hyper-individualistic ways of living. We can build on what we’ve learned – that we share this one world. That we are all interconnected and we can share the problems and the solutions. We can be generous. We can look out for others, care more, share more. We can build on what we have in common, and delight in working together, creating together and sharing together.
Can’t we?
Heroes Not Zombies 
A month before the pandemic my husband and I moved. And once spring came we finally met our neighbors in our section of row houses. During the summer and fall we met outside once a week to get to know each other and give support and share food. It has been such a blessing this pandemic has brought and we have continued the practice this year and added new neighbors to our group as well as a few puppies and a new baby.
Thank you for sharing that Donna. I think these are the aspects of the pandemic which we can encourage and grow