Love in the Time of COVID
“Here comes the sun, here comes the sun, and I say it’s all right.” ― The Beatles
Wow, what a difference a week makes! A week that quite honestly has felt like a year!
I hope that everyone reading this is safe and healthy and staying at home to do our part to help “flatten the curve” and show support and appreciation for “our troops” in the current world war―the courageous health care professionals who are putting themselves at risk everyday as they tirelessly fight this global pandemic on the front lines, facing life and death decisions that none of us should have to make.
This is not a drill. This is not just another flu. This is a highly infectious viral pneumonia that is currently devastating health care systems across the globe. Coming soon to a community near you.
As I type medical leaders just north of us in Washington State are facing a grim reality and having to draw up guidelines for rationing medical care―an ethical framework for deciding who receives care and lives and who’s denied care and dies if the state’s health system is overwhelmed as feared. A doomsday scenario that feels like something out of a movie but which is in fact altogether real.
Like everyone, I’ve experienced the full range of human emotions this week in the face of a new reality far scarier than any I’d contemplated previously. I’m slowly adjusting to a new normal that is anything but.
What’s been interesting is that as soon as the shelter-in-place order was issued for Northern California, I experienced what felt like a complete system reboot. The dark clouds lifted from my inner landscape and awakening fatigue was replaced by renewed energy, clarity and determination.
Nothing like a global pandemic to shake you out of a deep, dark funk and put things into perspective!
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had moments of extreme anxiety and fear about the future over the past week. It’s important to make space for all of our feelings and equally important not to panic or let ourselves succumb to hopelessness and despair.
I know I am not alone in this.
And this is the point. We are not alone in this, even though we are socially distancing and many of us may be feeling scared and isolated as a result.
We are all creative, resourceful and whole, both individually and as a collective. We can get through this if we support one another, focusing on the greater good rather than our own self-interest. Now more than ever, it’s not about me, it’s about WE.
In my experience, helping others is one of the best ways to shift from pain and suffering to purpose and positivity.
Who do you know that needs help?
What can you offer the world in these troubled, uncertain and chaotic times to bring joy or ease to someone who needs it?
Who can you call who might be feeling lonely or scared and needs to hear a friendly voice right about now?
It’s been so wonderful to see people rising to the challenges and finding ways to support one another and create joy. Italians singing and playing instruments from their balconies. Neighbors on NextDoor offering to buy groceries for those whose immune systems make it unsafe to go outside. Friends offering soul calming yoga classes online. Another friend offering her fitness videos (filmed at the Compound of Joy) free when shelter-in-place orders have closed your favorite gyms. Chef friends making healthy plant-based meal kits to feed their local communities. And if you’re looking to stay informed, there’s no better source than Dave Pell’s NextDraft, now publishing 7 days a week!
My mindfulness practice this week has been to be with all the emotions that come up without letting them take over. I let them flow through me then gently shift my perspective and guide my mind back to gratitude and joy.
Even with all the scary stuff that’s happening, there is so much to be grateful for.
I am healthy and strong and so are my beloveds. I’m blessed to be connected to a massive web of beautiful, open, generous hearts that love and support me and that I love and support with all my heart.
I live in the woods in a small hippie town 90 minutes north of San Francisco where much of our food is raised and grown locally and shortages are minimal. The whole social distancing thing has been my reality up here for the past seven years, so it doesn’t really feel all that different. :)
I’m blessed to have a quarantine dream team of people at the Compound of Joy―just the sort of people you’d want to have around you to ride out the apocalypse. They are smart, supportive, calm in the face of crisis and are all contributing to help keep us safe and well-provisioned to make our collective experience as pleasant as possible.
I am able to do freelance writing work to support myself. And I have more bandwidth for this kind of work if you need help! (I’ve written pretty much every kind of content — marketing, PR, editorial, user experience, customer service, technical writing, blog posts, and more. I can mimic established styles and can also help you create a voice and content strategy that will bring your brand to life.)
As always, even in these scary and chaotic times, there’s a lot to be grateful for.
Remember that self-care, both mental and physical, is even more important now than ever. Getting lots of sleep, exercising outdoors to move your body and get fresh air and eating healthy will help support and strengthen your immune system while simultaneously bringing greater peace of mind and keeping the cabin fever and impulses to strangle your loved ones to a minimum.
My self-care includes taking walks on Doran Beach and doing online yoga classes to stay connected with my local sangha.
Each morning, I’ve been doing a simple 5-minute daily morning journaling practice. When I wake up, before I look at my phone or engage with the world, I write down 3 things I’m grateful for, 3 things that will make today great and an affirmation to guide my day.
I’ve been cooking healthy and delicious meals and sharing them with my Camp COVID dream teammates to keep our bodies and souls nourished.
All of this has been helping to keep me calm, centered and hopeful.
This is life as a mindfulness practice. No cushion required.
We can’t control our experience but we can control our reactions to the curve balls that life throws us, using these challenges to strengthen our spirits and elevate our consciousness.
We can choose where we focus our attention, amplifying joy and gratitude rather than letting fear and anxiety take over and drain us of the positive energy and resourcefulness we all need more than ever right now.
We can rise to the occasion and choose a path of mindful responsiveness instead of falling victim to emotional reactivity.
I hope you are finding your own ways to stay mindful and grateful — making it your practice to spread joy and positivity infectiously — and are practicing self-care.
If we pool our energies, I know we can make resourcefulness and hopefulness as contagious as COVID.
Know that you are all in my thoughts and in my heart. If you need support or someone to talk to, I’m here. Book a curious conversation to explore how the Vulnerability Doula can be of service to you.
#StayAtHome 🦠🙏🏻💪🏻❤️😷❤️💪🏻🙏🏻🦠