There’s a lot of talk about the things we’ve missed during Sheltering in Place and the things we want to go back to. Advice is flowing on how to manage our emotions, navigate through our fear and allow ourselves permission to not be okay. People are dying in vast numbers globally, and we are left with the loss and grief of perfect strangers that suddenly have become very personal to us. There’s an uprising, conflict all around us about rights, priorities, healthcare, wages, and the basic infrastructure of an economy that screamed for our attention long before this pandemic struck. I personally have made mental lists for myself of the things that are most important to me, the activities I would gladly lay aside and the ones I want to return to. I’m also desperately aware of the pain and suffering, lives lost, moment by moment sacrifices draining our front line workers, financial losses and the permanent effects we will be suffering as we reopen. But as important as any of this is, something else can be gleaned from a time of crisis. In fact, it is almost an affront if we don’t take the time to acknowledge some of the purpose that can come from a devastation of this magnitude. It has been a gradual awakening for me, but this morning as my guy and I were talking, I was just suddenly flooded with gratitude and I could see so clearly all the small wonders that have lifted me up during this uncertain time. And it occurred to me that many of us have these things but maybe we haven’t made room for them amidst our fear. So, here goes….
Things I love about and am learning from this pandemic…
*I safely honor all my feelings for a world in pain and confusion but have the clarity to know where to put it. Through intention and practice I’ve been able to determine what emotions I want to spend my energy on and what I don’t.
*My guy and I still work, but our evenings are now more fluid and we find ourselves free to linger and get lost in the moment, enjoy long insightful conversations and say what we want with no schedule to interrupt us. Sheer bliss.
*It’s been a real opportunity to know my roommate better. This sheltering started right after he moved in and although we’ve been friends for a while now, this has given us a new level of perspective. What a treat!
*It’s always 5:00 around here. No judgement drinking zone. For realzzzzzz
*I don’t live in fear. If I find myself veering into the chaos, I know how to get back to peace. I realize that my challenging life has prepared me for crisis and I’ve developed good coping skills, but this thing is so much bigger than me and it’s good to really KNOW this about myself.
*My natural instinct is to be a helper, to do the right thing for the greater good. Even when I’m hurting or afraid. I wondered if I had lost some of that during the difficult years of managing my illness, but here it is. This pandemic reveals us.
*I found my rhythm with my writing. I struggled for years, kicking myself for not just publishing my blog already, but the timing of this was perfect. Something I should have trusted all along.
*I love the phrase Sheltering at Home. It sounds to me like the most warm, inviting experience one could ask for. I have created a home that I find comfort and solitude in, and I have certainly come to appreciate it more than ever during this time.
*I have rich and fulfilling relationships with beautiful people that I look forward to reconnecting with, slowly and safely as we are allowed. Their presence in my life has helped me navigate the ache of missing our face-to-face time. There is peace in knowing we have a circle, a trusted kinship.
*I am in and grateful for emotionally safe relationships. I no longer live with any uncertainty for my well-being either physically or mentally. Nothing brings dysfunction to light faster than being isolated with someone who is not good for you.
*My hair has very pretty natural curls which have thrived with no color and very little heat as it has grown its way through this downtime. Don’t get me wrong, I’m going back to my colorist, but this has been kind of fun to discover.
*I have seen some incredibly generous, heartfelt, sacrificial acts of kindness through this. I have been the recipient of some. Humility, love, abundance of the spirit. It is alive and well. My faith in humankind is solidly grounded in that.
*I love the hush that fell over the universe for that first little while as we began sheltering, isolating and quarantining. This great pause that has filled us with doubt, panic and changed the very fabric of the way we live our lives is also the very thing that will shape us going forward.
I hope you find moments that bring to mind some things you’re grateful for, a few lessons you’ve learned that you’d like to take with you, and that you recognize some character traits you’ve developed that you want to keep. Because if you’re still hangin’ in there, you’re pretty badass! Mostly, I hope you have moments of peace.