We awoke this spring to a completely different reality, an awareness of uncertainty. Our fragility. Our humanity. Our possible mortality. Then stripped of of semblance of normality. Routine. We first turned to the news and social media for information, comfort, and most importantly to begin to be told the story of how we got here. Yes, we humans are fantastic story tellers and thrive to make meaning of our world through narrative.
Rest assured that like most of these instances in history, we may never truly know what happened. Was it a weapon? An accident? A freak viral jump from another species? How many will die? Who will live? Will I live? Will the heartbreak and stress be too much? We are aware of our mortality.
As I move into this quarantine, I am thinking of it as my incubation period. A time of reflection and reordering of life priorities. When I return home, I will start by Marie Kondo-ing my garage. An old Teacher of mine Char Sundust used to say when your life is a mess, clean your room, then your house. It is time for us to clean house, the house of our lives. My garage contains all that I truely love to do outside of work: shooting my bow, camping, biking, surfing, tinkering. I will then move to my house and get rid of all that does not bring me joy, or at least extreme practicality!
Each morning I will start with meditation, yoga, exercise, and working on a fine motor skill such as shooting a bow or playing guitar. I have been struggling with these things in my life as I tend to put them at the end and prioritize the grind of what culture and society have long told me to prioritize… Making money. Yet, study after study shows that this is not what makes us happy. Yet, most mornings I awake, check the stock market, and bank accounts. A sure recipe for anxiety.
Mid morning to afternoon I will spend with the work of my life Naturopathic medicine, a patient centered, heart filled approach to the science and art of healing. I have been blessed to be working with cancer patients where I got to learn the preciousness of our time on the planet without getting a disease that awakens me to the knowledge of my mortality. I am lucky to have been a student of David Radin a Zen monk whose teachings have given me the ability to do this work without loosing my mind. Or maybe I lost my mind and that is what allows this work!
Evenings will be family time, off gadgets, engaging with each other. Playing games, sharing our hearts, holding each other in sacred space.
My work with cancer patients has lead me into toxicology as most cases of cancer arise from exposure to industrial chemicals. It is intriguing to see how much the Corona virus and the stopping of our industry is leading to a rapid decrease in pollution. The same pollution that is giving us cancer and other diseases. It is possible that the forced response to this virus will also save many lives. As long as we get the message: WE CANNOT RETURN TO BUSINESS AS USUAL. It was and is killing us. This is our moment of realization of our mortality and the opportunity to radically change our lives for the better. Yes, it will be hard, but we have each other, stellar teachers, and the technological know how. As I look at my regular life, I am astounded at the inefficiency, the waste, and the massive waste of time. I plan on spending some of my new found time researching solutions for climate change and implementing them. In the same way that I am taking responsibility for my time, my mind, my family, I also am going to take responsibility for my share of the pollution on the planet.
The COVID 19 quarantine can be a blessing or an imprisonment. It all depends of how you use the time. I see this as a global time to reinvent, reorient, and reinvigorate our lives. I choose to see it as a blessing and opportunity to have a new beginning. What new beginning will you create? What story will we be telling 30 years from now to our grandkids?