London, England
My heart goes out to all those personally and collectively affected by the COVID situation, there is a great deal of suffering out there… but right now, I feel it’s important to make the best of whatever situation we find ourselves in so here are my appreciations…. This deliberately goes back to basics….
Connection – I’m taking time to actually talk to my friends….. Long lost friends from all over the world… we’re phoning each other instead of just sending a quarterly text or happy birthday… When I am out on my daily walks, I feel an incredible sense of community with my fellow human beings… there are plenty of friendly glances, waves and nods… it’s always been a community of a hello and yes this is officially London.
Imperfection – yes that’s an appreciation… I am just about ok seeing chips, scratches and issues around the house… I’ve gradually given up both needing and wanting everything to be perfect and everything is developing its own personality. Who really cares if there’s no eggs in the supermarket. My writing is also imperfect, it’s not been proofread and it’s just a conscious flow… such a refreshing change.
Spring – surely this is the best spring London has seen in years… I am adoring watching the season evolve, the smells and the buds. I’ve never seen such active squirrels or heard such a sound of the birds..
Shopping – I am enjoying adapting… there’s a lady selling veg boxes in the park and WOW I have never tasted a carrot quite like it in the UK before…. They used to only deliver to restaurants. Whoever knew that Iceland had such a good stock of stuff outside of a freezer?
Adaptation – I am so impressed with the small businesses who have changed their business model overnight… cafes will now add a bag of flour to an order… if they’d not adapted…I wouldn’t have the carrot appreciation above. My community is adapting and now I’ve had a busy week of zoom development opportunities and interaction.
Courage – I’ve offered to shop for many elderly people to assist their isolation but i’ve noticed they’re still insisting on going about their daily business… maybe they have an appreciation of what it means to be coming to the end of their lives and want to just enjoy the walks and the shopping (with gloves and masks on)… I don’t wish to be judgmental and just want to be with their courage… it’s inspiring as they seem to all be coming to life.. More than I have ever seen before…. Maybe their armour has been pierced… they are vulnerable… they are being courageous and carrying on as they wish.
Pressing pause – things have slowed down and I really like it… I am not rushing from one task to the next…. Slowing down – I am loving this pace of life…… I’ve peeled garlic and never have the patience usually and even soaked and made my own hummus… this is healing with calm and I am attempting to practice calm and give myself permission to not be sure or to think more or to ask for more information. I am wondering how many years of DOING rather than FEELING you have endured since arriving at this nature’s pause. What’s on your COVID to do list? Try to find time to be.
My COVID wardrobe – it’s so nice wearing joggers every day and having an easy COVID apparel range… joggers, fleece, t-shirts… I might put a shirt on but don’t really feel like ironing…. Pondering the consequences of our actions
Gratitude – I have a profound sense of gratitude for having the faith and courage to follow my inner light and passions this past decade which I guess makes me so comfortable with the situation. I’ve traveled, discovered places to be and my own being.
That’s it for now… If I manage to make it to another instalment, I plan on writing about my post COVID life…….. And how this period of time in my life will impact that. This story is about patterns and breaking them up with this pause and taking some time to recognise them… feel and be vulnerable…. And head back to a state of calm… find that calm and bring in some appreciation. Normal might have been what brought the global community to this random bizarre place … I don’t want life to get back to normal… I would like there to be a new normal… right now I don’t know what that new normal will be which is unnerving…. But it’s an important step on the path of acceptance.
Love, strength, courage and conscious decision making to you all. Un abrazo x x
The Lockdown Lens 