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Are there any lessons you've learned from living through this pandemic that will stay with you, or that you'd want to share with others?
The biggest lessons I have learned are to slow down and notice…things oft ignored, walked over, stepped on, simply missed. And patterns are everywhere and in everything. The patterns of clouds blowing across the sky on a cloudy day, the patterns on a dragonfly’s wings, the veins in my husbands hands, the intricacies of a spiders web. The unseen patterns: of fear, of an unstructured day, a silent phone, a smile lost behind a mask. And the broken patterns… the empty calendar, the road as if falls apart, the church bell that rings but no one comes, the cancelled events, the comfort of a good solid hug. Slowing down and taking more notice has lead to appreciating the mundane more…slicing carrots and noticing the inside pattern radiating out, the stitches of the mending I’ve finally gotten to, watching a bee crawl into and out of a flower. My gratitude list grows daily.
March 7, 2022
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For some people, past experiences of stress, trauma, or loss are affecting their ability to deal with the challenges caused by the pandemic. If this is part of your experience, talk about it here.
I think any past challenges and stresses I've dealt with have helped me be stronger for dealing with this pandemic. I feel like those experiences gave me a new perspective about life and daily I try to remember the importance of enjoying what I can each day and to try not to take for granted the big and small things in life. And to keep up with my connections as much as possible with my friends, family, coworkers. And then, more recently, I've started having what I call "COVID" dreams. In the dreams I'm doing everyday ordinary things like grocery shopping, or going for a walk, gathering with friends and family, but nobody is wearing a mask, or physically distancing, or any of the things we're supposed to do to stay safe during the pandemic. And when I try to say something, everyone ignores me, and I keep "wandering" around like that until I wake up. It makes sense to me that I'm having these dreams, because I think everyday I have this underlying constant worry that everyone is doing what they need to in order to stay safe. Whether that's when I have to go out to run and errand, or I'm thinking of my loved ones. It's constant worry about exposure to something that's invisible.
December 2, 2020