Quarantine: Day # Well, actually I have no idea what day it is. I suppose we all started counting at different times. Personally, I have gone through many stages of emotion, ranging from anger, denial, and depression, to hope, joy, and finally contentment, as well as everything in between. I am in a holding pattern now at the level of gratitude, and my intention is to stay right here.
At first, I was quite upset as all my events, travel and backpacking plans, one by one, began to slowly disintegrate. After the calendar was basically completely cleared, and I was pretty much stuck right where I am, acceptance set in. My daily walk, no matter where I am, has always been my most useful and helpful spiritual practice, and now is certainly putting my theory to the test.
My walks in the neighborhood where I am now has shown me that along with my evolving emotional process, my vision has begun to change as well. It is not my actual eyesight that has changed so significantly, but what I naturally seem to focus upon. The most interesting example has been the street art that has begun to show up, everywhere I go!
The kids have it right. It seems, by the never-ending sounds of children laughing and playing that they know how to deal with this pandemic better than we adults do. There are chalk drawings and messages on every street in the neighborhood and at the end of many driveways. They are usually cute drawings and positive messages that say things like “Smile” and “Wash your hands.” I have to say, I probably smile more often while walking around the neighborhood than I ever did before.
If you had told me that it was chalk drawings on the streets in the neighborhood where my mother lives that would be making me so happy just a few short weeks ago, I would have never believed you. But today, the simple pleasures make all the difference. We will no longer take many things for granted. We will be living in a new world, one that we never could have dreamed up before.
I thought I knew gratitude before. But today, my gratitude has expanded beyond anything I could have imagined. So, go out there, take a walk, and SMILE! And don’t forget to wash your hands!
Namaste.
