Susanne Katz Karlick’s 2022 Passover Message

Getting to the other side is really a matter of refocusing.

For the past two years, the same messages showed up everywhere and every day.

Stay home. Practice social distancing. Avoid travel. Avoid groups and crowded places. Use delivery services.

The door at the bank warned that a customer must wear a mask to enter. The message on the floor told customers to stay at least six feet away from the person in front.

It wasn’t uncommon for most of us to work from home. My husband and I missed having a dog, so we searched for our puggle puppy and named her Mazel. A great personality for these times, she kept us connected with neighbors and friends.

And that is when I began to realize that it wasn’t all about me. Maybe, it was the time to refocus and make a new plan with a new intention. Instead of focusing on the limits of each day, I focused on good intentions and acts of caring and kindness to guide me.

So now, instead of complaining about the limits on our lives, we appreciate the opportunity to open our doors and see the possibility of a mitzvah each day.

How can we all do this? Visit neighbors. Care for friends. Find new ways to share joy. Put someone else’s frustrations in a new place and say, “I hear you.”

Mazel’s full name is Mazel Tov. Wishing us all a good life.

Susanne Katz Karlick is a curator, writer and photographer, co-creator of Atlanta Celebrates Photography, and a former Breman Museum Director of Exhibitions.