feliceReflections in the time of Covid for our children: whether you are single, newly married, and those becoming new parents.
Your life can change in an instant. Did you know that? If you didn’t now you do.
You are young and life is long. In a a few months, a year or a few more than that, the pace of life will return. This current shutdown of our lives is not permanent. However, these times are confusing. They warrant patience.
You are young and patience is hard. You have so much living to do and you are being asked to sit still and grow and spread your wings. You yearn to go outside and climb a mountain and you are told to sit inside. You want to shine at your job but are stuck behind a screen and your full energy cannot shine through this technology. Your bodies are full of desire and you cannot go out and explore, date, and socialize. You are asked to be present with yourself but is there such a thing as too much presence?
Where does this practice of sitting still leave you? You indeed are learning something we were not forced to learn. You are learning to sit with yourself. You are learning acceptance. You are learning patience. You are learning you are not in charge of everything, that the earth and world are bigger than we all are.
These learnings in this time will lead to fuller lives. This time of cocooning will birth a bigger butterfly that shines its colors for all to see and for you to feel. This is not a time for self doubt and worry about what others are doing, that worry has been erased during these few months…FOMO is currently on hiatus.
You have been catapulted into a full stop. In February you were speeding, racing breathlessly and for the past 2 months time is crawling and the only thing that distinguishes one day from the next is what you decide to bring to it, not what it throws at you.
Your space is your palette. What works for you what doesn’t? Perhaps this is your time to pivot. Will you cast aside your apartment living and head to the fresh air when this is over? Will cities see a flight as you choose to raise your children away from the chaos or will you wait until the lights are turned on and rush back in as you have missed your city’s energy?
What is important to you? Do you need less stuff in your life? How do you ideally want to spend your precious days now that you have a new perspective on time, without commutes and unquestioned plans. How do you feel about cars and commuting? Have you noticed how clean the air is right now and what you will do to ensure that this is important for you?
You have sat at your desks on Zoom for 24/7, and now hanging out on screens is perhaps no longer your favorite leisure activity. Have you lost your job? What opportunities will you look for now that the landscape has changed? Will you read a real book with your tired eyes? Will you take up running or swimming, cycling or gardening?
These past 2 months have enforced a tolerance for what cannot be changed and given us a heightened consciousness of what we will change when we are not constrained.
What have you learned about your relationships you have been living with day in and day out for the past 2 months? Are you listening better? Do you manage your own moods when there is not an outlet for them? Have you learned to do with less from others and more for yourself? Do you like to cook now?
Our generation knows that your generation has learned more than we ever did at your age. You will be wiser because of what you are living through now. You will be better for this and you will reflect on this time as a time of learning like no other. It’s your turn. Show us the way.