Different Worlds

This morning, as the first scenes of the new All My Children were being shot in Stamford, CT, I was delivering Purim treat boxes to homebound elderly people in my neighborhood.  I say this not to put myself forward as a do-gooder--I wasn't actually that good at it (it's hard not to be awkward making conversation with strangers)--but because I was struck by how these so completely different scenarios could be going on simultaneously and how for me, one would not have been possible without the absence of the other.  A year and a half ago, I was so busy working on a soap that doubt I would have said yes to delivering treat boxes or even have been in a position to be asked.
 
Sometimes it is only the absence of what is familiar that allows us to explore the unfamiliar--to put ourselves in those awkward places like making conversation with strangers.
 
So, while the absence of what was familiar for so long has undoubtedly made this a difficult year for me, I cannot help but be grateful to have been introduced to different worlds. Worlds I never would have visited, were it not for my familiar day to day fictional world having been taken away for a while. Who knew I could be such a world traveler?