I spied something strange the other day as Prince the dog and I approached the house on our return from our ritual morning walk. From a distance, I thought maybe the plastic newspaper bag got caught on the potted spruce on our front steps. A little closer, re-considering my first instinct, I wondered if someone's neon-yellow scarf rode the wind and alighted on our greenery. A few steps more, and I imagined the toddlers next door missing their rubber duckie.

Only once I was six steps away did I have my answer. It was light! From the invincible sun, our most reliable, steadfast companion in our most unpredictable daily life, in these most – how many times have you heard it now? – unprecedented times.

In those few seconds when my mind struggled to make sense of what my eyes perceived, the dance of fancy and logic had its day, do-si-do-ing until what I imagined and what I knew resolved their dissonance. In this case, it was entertaining. In higher stakes situations, like worry about family and friends, this similar mental dance can turn quickly to an emotional brawl.

More often than not, staying with the rhythm of fully present inhales and exhales is more than enough to ground us in the moment, and buffer us with patience until we wait for more or better information. More often than not, there's no monster in the darkened hallway, but simply a reflection of light from a brazen moon.

Sometimes, the simplest answers are the truest ones.