I went for a walk today...
No, I didn't break quarantine restrictions or anything like that; I went for a walk around my yard.
Somehow, just slowly "drifting" around this green space and truly looking at and seeing what was in front of my face was a very healing experience. It always is.
Red maple leaves unfolding in the afternoon sun...
It also give me another piece to answer the questions that seem to be in many people's minds these days: "What do you look forward to doing when the lockdown is over? And how do you hope the world might be different and changed, as compared to Before-Covid?"
The walk around our garden reminded of the Healing Power of Nature, but there was a deeper realization there:
It was the recognition that at the core of what has often made me feel like a bit of a misfit in our modern world is the fact that I am actually a Human BE-ing, rather than a "Human DO-ing," or even a "Human HAVE-ing."
Typically, "moments of realization" aren't all that dramatic, and they typically don't involve sudden insights that you're someone completely different from who you thought you were.
Instead, these moments are represented by putting a different lens of perception around things you already know about yourself.
So I had been thinking about what I hope might be different after the quarantines are lifted, and one thought that keeps coming up is that I keep sincerely hoping that the world will just stay slowed down, even if just a little.
I have really enjoyed not going anywhere, and I have really enjoyed the absence of "commercial noise" and the absence of planes on the flight path to SeaTac... and I have enjoyed the fact that our entire neighborhood seems to have gotten to actually know each other better.
The first buttercup of the year...
In a sense, the stay-at-home orders have "forced" us to slow down enough that we have remembered how to simply live as Human BE-ings, not caught up in an eternal rush to get somewhere and do something.
Sometimes less content in our lives also means less content inside our heads, and with that, a sense of peace.
I know there are lots of people out around the world who are going a little "stir crazy" because they feel imprisoned in their homes.
Question for consideration: As you sit with those feelings of longing, consider whether or not you are really missing out on something... or are you simply AFRAID that you're missing out on something, and it's that fear — not the actual missing — that's driving you a little crazy.
I looked up at the deep blue sky above me, and noticed how truly deep blue it was. Even though we already live in an area that has some of the purest air in North America, even here it is cleaner than usual. Looking further into the blue, the absence of so-called "chemtrails."
Growing up in Denmark, we lived downrange from the Copenhagen airport. Nobody talked about CHEMtrails, and every school kid knew that the white lines in the sky were CONtrails left behind by high flying aircraft.
When did BEING AFRAID become so many people's "hobby?"
I say that somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but there's a serious note in there, as well.
I wonder, sometimes, if all this fear-based thinking is part of a much greater story arc in which we have all allowed ourselves to become more or less "generic NUMBERS in the machine," and by focusing on something scary and strange, it allows us to reclaim some of the sense of "specialness" we have given up? After all, claiming to be the victim of some horrible plot is a lot more exciting than resigning ourselves to the fact that we're "just another barcode," as a friend phrased it, a few months back.
The pollen on the Mountain Pine is ready to let go...
Perhaps people become Human DO-ings in an attempt to run away from the mundaneness of simply BEING without any particular purpose... and the goal of becoming a Human HAVE-ing keeps the DO-ing fueled.
Meanwhile, the wild strawberries are blooming in our yard; there are tiny wild sweet peas growing and the crows are nesting. The world is still, still.
I rather like it, that way...
Thanks for reading, and stay healthy... wherever you may be.
(This is a #creativecoin creative non-fiction post)
How about YOU? Does your life feel "slower" than usual? Are you afraid you are "missing out" on things? Or are you content with the slower pace? What do you miss? Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!
(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for this platform.)
Created at 20200429 22:53 PDT
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