This is a weird, scary, unknown, strange time —-crazy—a pandemic. COVID-19. The Coronavirus. Who knew in the blink of an eye the world be socially distancing (who came up with that name?), that we would be self-quarantining, that weird people would be hoarding toilet paper and hand sanitizer. Every day more news, more cases, this is surreal for all of us.
For me my work is personal, it is about bringing people together and now I’m on hold, people are on hold, teams are on hold. While virtual meetings, zoom calls, FaceTime, are great ways to stay connected, we are all on hold until we can be together and this thing lifts. So what does one do with the change in time and space? So far —one month in, here’s how I’m coping:
1. My view is this is a time out of time and that this too shall pass—-don’t know when, but it will. It’s an opportunity. A time for reflection. A time to do things that I’ve always wanted to do, but didn’t have the time.
2. I’ve got a routine. I’m keeping my rituals and I’ve been adding new ones. I’m keeping some semblance of order and normalcy in my life.
3. I’m getting rest, staying in bed to say my prayers, to write, to be grateful for all that I have. To meditate.
4. Working out, exercise. I’ve created my own Covid running challenge, I’ve lost track, but I think I’m on day 34 of running every day. My poor dog Max is so exhausted at night he crashes and I do too.
5. Spring cleaning and organizing. Yesterday, and don’t judge, as I was changing sheets I finally sewed missing buttons on my duvet covers! So satisfying! I pulled out Q-tips and cleaned the corners of windowsills. I washed out the vacuum cleaner. Yes you heard me right—-cleaned the vacuum, I went crazy! Martha Stuart watch out!
6. Regular phone calls with my sister and brother to make sure we make each other laugh, to make sure we’re OK , just to hear each other‘s voices. We’ve been trying to bring some levity to this bizarre dream.
7. Everybody else is probably doing this one because it’s so decadent....Binge watching! Another , OK another random term that just didn’t exist until Netflix.
8. Growth. I’m taking a weekly meditation class, a professional certification, reading books that I’ve had on my shelf, Looking at this time to get better, to be better, to grow.
How about you? What are you up to today? What new rituals or routines have you put in place? How have you chosen to spend this time out of time?
