I am making the hard decision to close until further notice. It seems CDC and others are saying that aggressive proactive action and precautions are the best thing we can do to slow the spread of this disease, and so for the safety of my clients and myself I have decided to close for at least two weeks.
Although this decision feels hard and there is lots of fear right now when I check in inside I actually feel hope and strangely, joy. I see people tapping into resilience and strength they did not know they had, I see people thinking creatively, writing, doing art, spending time with family, slowing down. I see people rooting within and rising up to meet the truth that we are all connected in both beautiful and sometimes horrifying ways. I think I will be in touch a fair amount as this virus brings business as usual to a grinding halt. I mean, really, thank goodness, finally! Wasn't business as usually on the global level driving us all a little crazy?
Take this time to slow down. DO the things you normally don't have time to do. Garden. Make art. Sing. Learn a new skill. Cook. Spend time with loved ones. And find creative ways to reach out. Tonight we gather at Hampton park gazebo at 6pm for an outdoor sing/kirtan for any who want to come. Support your farmers and build local resilience. Sign up for a local CS. Spade and Clover is the one we do and we love it!
I feel my own creative juices stirring as I actually look forward to a slower period. For now I want to share some of the beautiful creative writings of others that have crossed my path, mostly circulating on Facebook, Instagram, and e mails, and helped me to form this positive outlook. Perhaps they will bring you strength and hope as well. I am coming across more of a similar message every day, and it rings true to me.
An Imagined Letter from Covid-19 to Humans
By Kristin Flyntz
Stop. Just stop. It is no longer a request. It is a mandate. We will help you. We will bring the supersonic, high speed merry-go-round to a halt We will stop the planes the trains the schools the malls the meetings the frenetic, furied rush of illusions and “obligations” that keep you from hearing our single and shared beating heart, the way we breathe together, in unison. Our obligation is to each other, As it has always been, even if, even though, you have forgotten. We will interrupt this broadcast, the endless cacophonous broadcast of divisions and distractions, to bring you this long-breaking news: We are not well. None of us; all of us are suffering. Last year, the firestorms that scorched the lungs of the earth did not give you pause. Nor the typhoons in Africa,China, Japan. Nor the fevered climates in Japan and India. You have not been listening. It is hard to listen when you are so busy all the time, hustling to uphold the comforts and conveniences that scaffold your lives. But the foundation is giving way, buckling under the weight of your needs and desires. We will help you. We will bring the firestorms to your body We will bring the fever to your body We will bring the burning, searing, and flooding to your lungs that you might hear: We are not well. Despite what you might think or feel, we are not the enemy. We are Messenger. We are Ally. We are a balancing force. We are asking you: To stop, to be still, to listen; To move beyond your individual concerns and consider the concerns of all; To be with your ignorance, to find your humility, to relinquish your thinking minds and travel deep into the mind of the heart; To look up into the sky, streaked with fewer planes, and see it, to notice its condition: clear, smoky, smoggy, rainy? How much do you need it to be healthy so that you may also be healthy? To look at a tree, and see it, to notice its condition: how does its health contribute to the health of the sky, to the air you need to be healthy? To visit a river, and see it, to notice its condition: clear, clean, murky, polluted? How much do you need it to be healthy so that you may also be healthy? How does its health contribute to the health of the tree, who contributes to the health of the sky, so that you may also be healthy?Many are afraid now. Do not demonize your fear, and also, do not let it rule you. Instead, let it speak to you—in your stillness, listen for its wisdom. What might it be telling you about what is at work, at issue, at risk, beyond the threats of personal inconvenience and illness? As the health of a tree, a river, the sky tells you about quality of your own health, what might the quality of your health tell you about the health of the rivers, the trees, the sky, and all of us who share this planet with you? Stop. Notice if you are resisting. Notice what you are resisting. Ask why. Stop. Just stop. Be still. Listen. Ask us what we might teach you about illness and healing, about what might be required so that all may be well. We will help you, if you listen.
Lockdown
By Richard Hendrick (I think?) Yes there is fear. Yes there is isolation. Yes there is panic buying. Yes there is sickness. Yes there is even death. But, They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise You can hear the birds again. They say that after just a few weeks of quiet The sky is no longer thick with fumes But blue and grey and clear. They say that in the streets of Assisi People are singing to each other across the empty squares, keeping their windows open so that those who are alone may hear the sounds of family around them. They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland Is offering free meals and delivery to the housebound. Today a young woman I know is busy spreading fliers with her number through the neighbourhood So that the elders may have someone to call on. Today Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples are preparing to welcome and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting All over the world people are looking at their neighbours in a new way All over the world people are waking up to a new reality To how big we really are. To how little control we really have. To what really matters. To Love. So we pray and we remember that Yes there is fear. But there does not have to be hate. Yes there is isolation. But there does not have to be loneliness. Yes there is panic buying. But there does not have to be meanness. Yes there is sickness. But there does not have to be disease of the soul Yes there is even death. But there can always be a rebirth of love. Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now. Today, breathe. Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic The birds are singing again The sky is clearing, Spring is coming, And we are always encompassed by Love. Open the windows of your soul And though you may not be able to touch across the empty square, Sing. March 13th 2020
Pandemic
By Lynn Ungar 3/2020 What if you thought of it
as the Jews consider the Sabbath
—the most sacred of times?
Cease from travel.
Cease from buying and selling.
Give up, just for now,
on trying to make the world
different than it is.
Sing. Pray.
Touch only those
to whom you commit your life.
Center down.
And when your body has become still,
reach out with your heart.
Know that we are connected
in ways that are terrifying and beautiful.
(You could hardly deny it now.)
Know that our lives
are in one another’s hands.
(Surely, that has come clear.)
Do not reach out your hands.
Reach out your heart.
Reach out your words.
Reach out all the tendrils
of compassion that move, invisibly,
where we cannot touch.
Promise this world your love-
-for better or for worse,
in sickness and in health,
so long as we all shall live.
What if?...
By Gutpreet Gill
What if?... Amongst all the fear and confusion, there’s this...❤️ a different perspective ... There is so much fear, and perhaps rightfully so, about COVID-19. And, what if...
If we subscribe to the philosophy that life is always working out for us, that there is an intelligence far greater than humans at work... That all is interconnected. What if...the virus is here to help us? To reset. To remember. What is truly important.
Reconnecting with family and community. Reducing travel so that the environment, the skies, the air, our lungs all get a break. Parts of China are seeing blue sky and clouds for the first time in forever with the factories being shut down.
Working from home rather than commuting to work (less pollution, more personal time).
Reconnecting with family as there is more time at home.
An invitation to turn inwards -- a deep meditation -- rather than the usual extroverted going out to self-soothe.
To reconnect with self -- what is really important to me?
A reset economically. The working poor. The lack of healthcare access for over 30 million in the US. The need for paid sick leave.
What if this virus is an ally in our evolution?
In our remembrance of what it means to be connected, humane, living a simpler life, to be less impactful/ more kind to our environment.
An offering from my heart this morning. Offered as another perspective. Another way of relating to this virus, this unfolding, this evolution.
It was time for a change, we all knew that. And, change has arrived. What if...