Just about everyone that knows me, knows that I rather stay at home. If I can figure out how to do something at home, whether it’s practice, work, educating, then that is what I am going to do. I will put off any and all errands until the last possible moment in favor of never having to leave my house. Occasionally, I will venture out to connect socially with others but chances are I have had enough of that by virtue of the few classes I would teach or the activities that I need to shuttle my kids to and from. I have been so looking forward to being on a nice size piece of land again so that we can really sink our roots into all of the growing potential here. I have missed having a great big garden that we can spend hours in at a stretch.
One of the most difficult pieces of our move to Vermont for me has been Maple going to school. It has, in many ways, been marvelous for her. And yet it has been a strain on our relationship to be sure and hard on our family as a whole as we attempt to find integration with her home half of the time and gone the rest. As I have suggested on social media in recent days, having her home all day every day during this time of social distancing and in my mind appropriate levels of pro-active caution and care, has been an unexpected source of joy for me. She is such a naturally inspired person that as she unfurls again into our collective space she is stretching her creative wings into projects and explorations that I didn’t even realize how much I had missed.
Every day, she has strapped her baby brother onto her back and headed out to the woods to check the maple taps that Chris and Eider and she put in last weekend. (Better late than never and with surprisingly more yield than we had been anticipating- boiling begins today.) She has also been practicing yoga every. People, my kid who has told me through her entire life of me on my mat on the regular right in front of her that yoga is dumb and definitely not for her- has been practicing every day, for often around 90 minutes at a time. WHAT?!? I am lucky to get 30-60 minutes on my mat right now with my mobile, busy, baby. Next week, her class begins remote schooling via chat platforms and we shall see how that shifts what is happening now. She loves being a student and is looking forward to getting back to it. We shall see what that looks like soon enough.
Eider and I have also been sinking into a better homeschool rhythm than we have in ages. We seem to be more productive and efficient without the usual disruption of gearing up for a class or activity out of the house. We have also been taking the time each morning before we begin our lessons and once Wilfred is down for his first nap, to do a brief (and yet exultant!!!) meditation together. These feel like a few wins on the home front for sure and they are filing me up with a solid dose of hope- which indeed feels like a balm during difficult times.
Ok, so I do realize that this post so far could come off as pretty obnoxious to some. I do not want to paint a picture of things being all rosy over here like we are somehow separate or more insulated than most from current events. We are not. Chris is still post-op and that is stressful as we navigate the cancellation of all foreseeable follow-up appointments. We are still anxious and scared every time we send him out with our grocery list in hand. We are worried about our own immune systems as well as those of our far-flung family members, especially the 60 and 70-year young crowd. We are worried about what will happen to our small, rural, community when the wave of Covid-19 arrives and we find out how well prepared our local clinics and hospital are. I am simply attempting to stay connected to gratitude and self-care as best I can. In many ways, this is what all of these many years of practice have led to and I feel the gravity of how I respond during this time in my very marrow.
I am also comforted by recent posts from my teacher and friend Christina Sell. She has written recently on the more meta topics of being ok in the big sense even when we may or may not be ok in the immediate. This has always been a conversation that soothes me and now is no different. She also just shared some wellness tips from her daily habits and Kelly’s wisdom from Chinese Medicine and those are on point as well. Additionally, if you haveb’t checked out her recently launched podcast, I would highly recommend you do so. There is wisdom and insight to be had there for sure. Those of you that have been studying with Rachel Peters, Sam Rice, and myself, will recognize many of the daily practices Christina refers to and I think we can all get a sense of how very vital they are in times like these for our immune and nervous system health. These daily habits are the ones we should be leaning on right now.
I have also been incredibly bolstered and supported by the large group of women that I work within Beautycounter. The team that I am fortunate enough to be a part of has been busy reaching out with kindness, compassion, and a sweet dose of levity as they continue to guide their networks in supporting personal wellness in healthy and safe ways. Honestly, it is one of the saner communities that I have ever been a part of and for that I am grateful.
My next session of Life of Practice Mentorship begins April 1st and I continue to be inspired and bolstered by the one on one work with these individuals. I feel so honored to have the opportunity to offer support and guidance as people navigate their own life of practice and what that means to them, and indeed this work feels more important now than ever. I do have some limited space available for this next deep dive into on-going mentorship and I am making it available at a reduced monthly rate for folks who are suffering financial strain and setbacks right now. Please let me know how I can help and together we can figure something out. There is a simple and clarifying application process that I can send out to anyone interested.
Alright, on one final note for now… Something quite light. But also maybe not. You decide. Some of you may know that I lost my wedding ring back in November or December. I really don’t know. My postpartum mind was all over the place and it could just as easily have flown off my finger as I could have set it someplace “clever”. It has felt like a horrible loss, even though it is just a thing, and especially as it came right before our 15 year anniversary. But over the last few months I have been working with an amazing independent jeweler in Milwaukee to make a new ring to take the place of the old. Not replace perse but renew in a way I think. Anyhow, we have finally landed on a design and I am over the moon about this little bit of sparkly reminder of commitment and abiding love headed my way.
It’s the little things folks. Finding joy where joy is to be found even as we navigate what indeed may become for a time our new normal. Thanks for reading this far. It means so much to me. And please do not hesitate to reach out. I would love to hear what you are doing to stay connected during this time in your own home. What is bringing you a bit of joy or hope? What are you doing for your own self-care and that of the other members of your family? How is your relationship to service and/or purpose shifting during this time? I’d love to hear. And as ever, stay connected.
xxx,m