Searching for gold in the face of a global pandemic.
Small jewels appear and shine
brightly. Hello you. You, standing before the empty supermarket shelves with the
stripped back look of the vulnerable, smiling kindly at a stranger. You my
friend as you work extra hours at the check out patiently scanning those excess
items without judgement. You who are brave enough to stand before those who are
unwell and treat them with compassion and care.
There are those wonderful singing
Italians and the rooftop exercise guy in Spain
It seems that we have a unique opportunity
here to find kindness within the chaos. From isolation comes connection. Fear
is being transmuted into compassion. Uncertain times are leading us into a more
flexible attitude towards what we really need for our well being and happiness.
We will learn that we can and must make do with what we’ve got.
Years ago, feels like lifetimes
ago, when my husband and I lived in a combi van pottering slowly around Europe with limited space and provisions, we made a game
of being resourceful. When we wanted something that we didn’t have, we’d look
at each other and ask; how can we do this? How can we make this happen or work?
Cooking toast on a fork over our camping heater attached to the gas bottle was
a good example but leaving said heater on inside the van while we slept on a
cold night, not so much. Anyway, you get the idea.
Our usual busy-ness is being stripped away and we’ll need to come
up with something to fill the void. Or not. It seems we’ll have less places to
hide from our boredom or dissatisfaction. For those of us like me who are a bit
lazy, this actually sounds pretty good.
Despite the dangers of the virus, like
the fact that we might all die, go broke or run out of bog roll, is it just me
who is a bit excited by this forced change in the way we live? This opening up of time with the
cancellation of work, sport, training and events is a chance to rest and do the
things that we enjoy but never find the time to do.
For me, teaching jobs outside the
house are mostly cancelled. As a nerdy reader and writer I feel quite happy at
the idea of being holed up with books, pen and paper and computer. With toilet
paper and food in the house (for now), a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle would
complete the picture nicely.
Time to hang out with my family,
behind closed doors will be wonderful, interesting and tricky, no doubt. Like
all things at all times, it will depend upon my mind. And I suppose this is
where the learning will come from. Can we control our minds when put under
pressure? I hope so.
This is a chance to reassess. For
all of us to take a step back from our usual activities and decide which ones
we’ll come back to when circumstance allows.
And also, since when did working
from home really mean working from home? When did we all become so grown up and
responsible that working without supervision doesn’t mean skiving off? (Come
on, at least a little!)
The teenagers are onto it. At
breakfast this morning with three teen boys, they were all urging each other to
take the fall and contract the virus so that their school will be closed down.
Then they can spend the rest of the term at the beach, I mean “working from
home”.
Share. Look after people you don’t
yet know as though they are loved ones. Not in weird or inappropriate ways just
with an awareness that their basic wish for happiness is exactly the same
as ours.
We need to be able to look each
other in the eye once this crisis is over so why not strip away the labels and
treat everyone as a friend. We all have the potential for goodness, greater
than that which we have explored in ourselves thus far. Here is a chance to
invite our best selves to show up. We grow when we’re forced to grow.
This is an unexpected chance for
kindness to blossom in unexpected ways.
We’ll get through this, together.
Love, Kerry.x
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