Note to self:
2020 is half over. It’s time to get out of idle and shift into gear again.
Enough of “waiting” to pick up and carry on … until this …
Enough of “postponing” life events … until that …
Enough of “suspending” connections … until the other …
I’ve been thinking this is temporary. Just wait it out. Soon enough we will be able to pick up where we left off, and carry on as usual — mostly. In the meantime, four months have flown by and it’s looking like we’re in this for the long-haul. A nebulous soon has turned into a nebulous distant future – maybe even 2021. I’m pushing myself to consider this possibility – while also not having a panic attack about it.
Do I want to continue living like this another year? Absolutely not.
Does this mean, I’m going to cast all care to the wind and sport mask-less bravado? Also, absolutely not.
I’m working on re-wiring my own personal internal thinking about how I arrange my life. Staying within the bounds of COVID safety to do all the things I want to do, involves greater effort, greater planning and greater discomfort. Thus far, I’ve made rather lazy and comfort-seeking decisions behind the veil of caution, comfort and lack of urgency.
Rejecting Zoom invites, because I might self-combust if I have to sit in front of the screen another hour. Not making the effort to arrange for creative outings, because … well … it takes effort. Forgetting to call people I would normally collide with in my daily comings and goings, because out of sight is out of mind. Dragging my feet to invite others to social distance with me, because it’s hot and buggy outside these days – and muggy too on the Texas gulf coast. Pushing things off til tomorrow, because there’s no sense of urgency for today.
Do I want to be taking inventory at the end of 2020, and see the whole year was a holding pattern? Maybe one year is fleeting in the grand scheme of time, but the sands of time on my personal clock are not endless.
I need a paradigm shift. I don’t have lots of answers yet, but I know “Awareness is the greatest agent for change” – thanks for that thought Eckhardt Tolle.
On a whim, I cycled by a friend’s condo yesterday, called her on the phone and asked her to step out on the balcony. She’s not in a position to social distance, so we waved and chatted on the phone. Even though she was 14 floors up and I was standing on a busy street corner, it felt more real and intimate than a Zoom session. More of this …
It gave me a real bounce. I hope it did her too.
The spontaneous balcony visit was on the way home from a patio coffee shop visit with a friend I haven’t seen in person since late last year. It was a multi-sensory technicolor experience compared to the flat world of emails and Facebook posts. We could laugh, catch up, wander down assorted paths of conversation, recycle topics, chatter and debate and go back-and-forth in real-time. More of this too …
It was invigorating for me. I hope she feels the same.
Working on it …
Non-Zoom ideas most welcome 🙂
The Coronaviary 
Loved every minute of the 90, which flew by too quickly! Available all of August!
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I loved that you came by, Lynn, and kept dashing into our home to watch a concoction on the stove. I was thinking it would have been feasible and polite to come down and speak to you in person! What a concept. Next time for sure….it’s all half a loaf but isn’t it always??? Much love .
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I loved that you came by, Lynn, and kept dashing into our home to watch a concoction on the stove. I was thinking it would have been feasible and polite to come down and speak to you in person! What a concept. Next time for sure….it’s all half a loaf but isn’t it always??? Much love .
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Love your commitment to this blog and to 2020, Lynn. Thanks for sharing your ideas for spontaneous non-Zoom outings. I’m convinced we can focus on what really matters in the years ahead if we are aware that the previous way of life (in particular for those unaware of the inevitable impending pandemic) is not the only way of life. As one of 25,000 global employees issued with a pandemic preparedness kit by my employer in the last decade, I know my awareness was not at zero. And I am grateful for the work I have done on change in the last 5 years of my life. It has made this period far less concerning, except for digesting the amazing variety of responses to it, especially in this country (USA). You are blazing a trail with this blog and I know it is comforting and educational for every reader. You go!
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Sarah, very kind of you to take time to write to me. I never really know how these things land.
I also had a pandemic kit issued after SARS but never really gave it any serious consideration. I’d like to leave a legacy of stories for those who come behind us. We know so little about what the average person was thinking as they navigated the 1918/19 influenza – I want to make sure my kids and grandkids know what this was like. You inspired me to get back to the keyboard and write some more today. In gratitude. L
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