Coronavirus Week 3.
The past 3 weeks have been a whirlwind! The awareness that the entire human species is feeling the crumbling choke of our economies, of our medical systems, or our work and social structures; is for some overwhelming and for others awe-inspiring.
Meanwhile, across the globe, other species of life for which we share this planet, are thriving and exploring in ways that are normally cut off from human activity. Our airs are clearing. Our waters will run more clear this spring. Elephants are dining in abandoned vineyards, and tortoises are birthing hundreds to thousands more across virgin sands (these are only a few of the inspiring acts of wildlife reclamation I’ve seen written on).
My own experience is that I've been at home, able to garden more. I'm greatly looking forward to the vegetal rewards of my labors and sharing both starts and harvest with my friends and neighbors. I've been exploring medicine, researching more, cooking raw herbal formulations, and having more in depth conversations about herbal perspectives, the varying roles of TCM and Acupuncture in this pandemic, and our overall medical system and governments management of the crisis at hand. At this moment, I'm attending/listening in on a UofU Live Business Webinar. Later today I have the opportunity for a guided breathwork meditation.
Life feels a bit like a staycation at the moment, so long as I don’t overthink and overfocus on the troubles that are associated with such extra time and ‘freedoms’. No, instead I’m trying very hard to allow and honor where I am day-by-day. As the world heals, so do I.
I've always felt that the health of a human is related to the health of our environment. This notion was the fuel which transformed my life as environmentalist to healthcare practitioner. I’ve often wondered how to express and bridge this notion. I’ve often come to realize that others have already made that connection and written about it; So who am I to build on this? Well, The reality is that I’m me. Simply someone who has seen this connection and now sees this connection ever more clear than before in the face of coronavirus. I truly feel that we are being asked to look fully at how we interact noth only with our own health, but with the health of our environment.
Our environment is more that the clean air we’re seeing more in Utah, more than the snow melt we’ll be seeing over the spring weeks ahead. Our environment is anything from our own living space and immediate footprint to our neighborhoods, the landscape of our cities and region; it’s the life that we share these spaces with. Our environment is who we interact with. It is all encompassing to who we each are, what we offer, how we interface with our natural, developed; sustainable and unsustainable resources.
In the past 3 weeks I did fluctuate from Medicine Woman Warrioress to scared child soothed by foods, television streaming. I’ve gotten angry, raging inside and unconsolable. I’ve been active at my home and community, talking with neighbors and people walking down the street. I’ve spoken with and spent time with my immediate family and loved ones, I’m reconnecting with my partner. I’ve taken the time for meditation and exercise. I could do more of all these things I just mentioned. I’m sure I will. I’m sure there are emotions I have yet to explore.
In the past 3 weeks I’ve noticed that the stillness of the world has provided an ample space for self recognition, for connection, for nourishment, and healing. Within these opportunities are both light and dark; alike the rotation of our mother around the sun, the moon around our mother. At times we may feel lost, cold, alone. But we are always with, alongside, and experiencing a collective challenge. We are leveling up with each other, forced to go thru a 40 day global challenge; which we will all meet with feelings of success and struggles. The experiences we have today are unlike any other opportunity we’ve been given. Our ideas and ambitions have room to produce a seed, we have the time and resources to plant that seed, to nourish that seed, and to invest in what that seeds holds. I’m excited to see how we collectively grow and connect from this experience.
I find comfort in knowing that all this is true. How could it not be? It’s the basic foundation for which humanity is experiencing this global pandemic. And while it may not always be comfortable, or welcome, or feel nourishing or healing; never before, in my lifetime, have we come together in such a way. Never before have we honored each other, honored the abundance we have in a time that may otherwise disconnect and confuse. Instead, we see expansion thru communication and technology, thru our own hands ability to create and connect. And we are collectively being asked to look at what matters the most. To step away from the distractions and focus on the present with a vision for the future.
And I can see that my future is with my mother. Wishing you all well in this time.