COVID-19: What is it good for?
Right now, a lot of things suck.
As you know, people are getting sick. Some are even dying.
In these strange and unprecedented times, the world is changing every day. Over the past week almost everything has been shut down, cancelled or postponed (including my own wedding day).
There’s a lot of fear in the air and they are saying it will get worse before it gets better. Who knows what lies ahead of us?
It’s all a perfect reminder that nothing is for certain.
In the last few weeks we’ve been confronted with our mortality - if not our own, then perhaps that of some of our loved ones. This can be a humbling experience or a dark night of the soul - or both.
My heart goes out to those whose underlying conditions put them high risk in these times. It must be extra frightening.
There is one question that has always given me solace in times of adversity: ‘what is this allowing?’ In other words, what opportunities does this change of pace give us access to?
It’s strange times for sure but also a unique opportunity for all of us to slow down, go within, reflect and come back to ourselves. A reminder that life is precious, yet full of distractions and illusions that often keep us from doing the things our soul craves.
There are loved ones to call, books we’ve been meaning to read, online courses we’ve been meaning to study, films we’ve been meaning to watch, projects we’ve been meaning to start (or finish) and dreams we’ve been meaning to pursue.
For years we’ve been telling ourselves ‘tomorrow’. Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, and yet tomorrow never seemed to arrive.
Until now.
Now we have a moment to catch our breath and reflect, to clarify: what is our life really about? Where do we find meaning in this world? And what do I want to create and experience in this lifetime?
Suddenly we have time. Yes, there’s fear and uncertainty all around, but I prefer to focus on that liberating question: ‘What is this allowing?’
After all, gratitude is the antidote to fear, as we are physically unable to process both emotions at the same time.
It may take a bit of time to find the things we’re grateful for in this time, but it’s so worth it. For me it is the chance to walk around the empty streets and make my way to the park a few blocks away. It’s the realisation of just how important my friends and loved ones are to me. It’s the opportunity to give thanks to everything that has brought light and positivity into this world, all the potential of what we can become in the future, and just what a strange miracle life is in the first place.
I know it’s feelings of gratitude like this that make me able to get on with my life under quarantine, and prepare for what comes next. After all, 'this too will pass'.
