How’s your Covid19 day going?
I spent the first couple of hours of my day today feeling weighed down.
Saturday morning, first weekend in April. Life in the time of Covid19.
I didn’t walk into the garden to fix my mood today. Something moved my bones and I went outside. I found myself enjoying the rain, my body bending and flexing, the smells, the rhythm. Glad I listened.
I lazed around wondering why I’m not getting much done and what in fact I might consider doing. Nothing had much appeal beyond painting my hair and a bath. Just meh.
I put off my sister’s invitation to talk. I did pick up my daughter’s call, straight from meh-ville.
I’m not sick, honey. I’m not freaking out. Nothing’s happened. I’m in a mood; just meh. It’ll probably pass.
After a while my bones moved me outside.
I grabbed my very cool knife — hooking its scabbard to my back pocket, found some gloves, and stabbed the sh*t out of a couple of soil bags. Not Psycho stabbing. Just using my body in unusual ways — I haven’t prepped a garden bed in a long time. It was wonderful.
I got two planters ready, inhaling the aroma of poopy turf (turfy poop?), and planted a cut-and-come-again garden of tatsoi, pak choy, chard, and four kinds of kale. Plus a row of my favorite kind of carrots (Nantes — yum, sweet). Plus snap peas.
Wait. No. I didn’t go into the garden as a way to fix myself, not as a technique or a strategy.
It felt more like an allowing or following, like going with the flow.
I moved in and out of the house, and took breaks, including feeding myself with a not-quite-but-almost-seasonal snack.
A nourishing snack — almost Passover and of course I’m jumping the gun (have you met me?). Matzo, ghee, banana, pink salt. Only a slightly heretical spin on mom’s. She’d use butter (who knew from ghee in those days?) and the salt would be Morton’s. #comfortfood
Don’t go yet. I have a few some things on my mind.
I’m watching and reading the news, in chunks, on the daily.
I can’t help it. I have to.
I know you’re overloaded — how can you not be? — and I don’t want you to take anything on you can’t handle.
There may be moments when it’s just too f*cking much to pay attention to world doings. Yes.
Be open to your curiosity, and dive into those moments when you want to know more about what’s going on.
No matter where you are right now, or later on, or tomorrow — whether you’re sick or well, grounded or freaking out, employed or not, pivoting your business to be response-able to your clients and community….
No matter what — If you’re an American like me, looking just seven months ahead to a scheduled and promised (but who the f*ck knows at this point,?) presidential and senate elections, there are things I’d love to — need to — remind you about.
When you can, please inform yourself.
My sister reminded me — when I blew her off this morning — that this is a tough time.
However life in the time of this pandemic is landing for you today, when you’ve got the bandwidth for something besides your immediate needs, please don’t forget about what’s going on.
So much is at stake.
If you don’t know what’s going on, learn. If you do know, stay current. It looks to me like some sh*t is getting weirder. It looks to me like rights are being stealthily eroded every f*cking day.
I have no attachment to you taking any action.
Follow your inner guidance; let it move your bones, during Covid19, during everything.
I won’t point you to any specific sources. No. Instead, I’ll whip up a google search or two for each topic — and I’ll make it as neutral as I can. I invite you to inform yourself.
I don’t know what’s true. Things are changing all the time. Please do your own research. Please be informed. And please don’t forget.
What you do with this compilation is up to you.
If you’re concerned about some/all of these, you’re not alone. If you’re wondering what action(s) you might take in this exquisitely challenging time, you’re not alone.
I care about these doings and I think they’re critically important. Even so, I curated this as neutrally as possible. In fact, I’ll reveal the search terms I used for my compiled links — feel free to craft your own searches. However you’re moved to do so, for f*ck’s sake, inform yourself.
Neutral, schmeutral — my opinions are in here. As my friend Judy Cohen said during one of the 19 weeks of March that finally ended: If I have to go down, I’m going down snarking. (Or maybe snarling in my case, as my phone’s autocorrect would have it.)
There’s more I didn’t get to. An exhausting amount more.
Racism. Immigration. Mental health. Anxiety. Oh and the f*cking stock market, did that escape my wrathful notice?
You know what to do.
Take care of yourself. Trust yourself. Find a way to share yourself and your gorgeous heart with someone else today. Be well. Do what occurs to you to do.
Join me for Simplici-Tea.
Hey lovely, did you know I’m doing Simplici-Tea calls again? Free. #simplifyyourlife (Info on Facebook, if that’s a hangout of yours. Or sign up for my love letter, and get updates.)
Next Simplici-Tea: Thursday, April 9th, 4pm PDT,
I love you. Blessed be.
