Clearly

I was driving on my commute, listening to music on shuffle. “I Can See Clearly Now” by Johnny Nash came on. It’s a very sunshine-y song.

Literally.

It’s gonna be a bright (bright!)
Bright —
Bright and sunshine-y day.

As the music started, I was only half paying attention, but then, the second line jumped out at me.

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone.
I can see all obstacles in my way.

A line about obstacles? In a sunshine-y song? And this is good news — a nice development?

I guess it is, if seeing them means we can finally stop tripping over what we couldn’t name before.

I’ve heard this song so many times, but this was the first time that line really stood out. Sometimes, we go through our days on autopilot, unaware of the obstacles right in front of us — or worse, we’ve normalized them.

It’s pretty great news when we can finally see them clearly.

— Renee Roederer