Winter 2020
WHO WILL WE BE
In an uncertain world we are asked to seek the balance between self care and kind care of our broader community. This week has brought the presence of Coronavirus up close for most of us as our schools close down or shift to online format, our workplaces cancel travel and arrange for people to work from home, our sports teams cancel seasons, and event planners cancel large events. We are being asked to prepare for something that most of us have never known: the possibility of being quarantined by self or by others. As we face these new restrictions and those that might follow, many of us are flooded with anxiety. Some are triggered into fears of running out of things. Some fear the people with whom they come in contact. Our devices and social media accounts flood us with data; more data than we can hope to assess for accuracy, and then those facts (accurate or not) are repeated and repeated until we think they must be true. Grocery shelves are emptying as though we face months of isolation. Financial experts are warning of looming recession. We, as a people are running scared.
We, as a people will need to slow ourselves down, breathe deeply, and ask ourselves who we wish to be...how we wish to be during this unprecedented time of medical, social and financial crisis. As one colleague put it “we are the threat and we are the solution”. If we do nothing more than protect ourselves from all the perceived threats, yet we allow our neighbors to run out of basic necessities or to be treated with hostility because they cough, how will we feel about ourselves and our humanity when the dust of this crisis clears?
MOVING BEYOND SELF
Our Universe calls us into action, asks us to look beyond ourselves and our fears, asks us to reach for courage...reach for our best selves. Perhaps it isn’t good enough to express generosity during times of abundance. Perhaps we are called to express generosity of spirit, of resources, that much more, at this time when need feels great and resources slim. Can we breathe into a deeper trust in the abundance of this Universe...enough so that we can leave items on the shelf for the next person? Can we work together to support and hold safe the most vulnerable of our neighbors and community members...checking on older people, perhaps helping them procure supplies? Can we reach for kindness and patience as we interact in our world of stressed and anxious service workers?
This time stands to illuminate both our strength as a community and our shortcomings. Let us each, while tenderly caring for self at this time, also gently push beyond our self-involved-ness and be of service to our world, through kindness, generosity and loving assistance to those around us. We, as a people will be better for it.
GIVE YOURSELF THE GIFT OF LOVING SUPPORT
If I can help you find and hold your centeredness through this time of anxiety and stress, please reach out. I will be offering both in person and video sessions as well as equine assisted sessions enjoyed in the wide open space of the green pasture!
Be well,
