In a few short months, we have tumbled down a rabbit hole into a completely different world than the one we knew.
Under current circumstances, a return to the way things were is not viable. And longing for the past is not a wise use of our energy; it is better to face what is right here in front of us. Even if it is a big unknown.
When we think of ourselves in “lockdown”, we contract ourselves and imagine ourselves imprisoned and limited. When we think of ourselves as “sheltering at home”, we can soften. We feel a little safer, and we have the possibility of slowing down and reflecting. We have the possibility of looking at new ideas, and at new ways of being. One perspective feels like punishment, and the other feels like an invitation.
The gifts of sheltering at home include simplifying and slowing down. We can reconsider our choices and priorities; we can re-examine and re-instate our core values. We can step off the dizzying merry-go-round of producing and consuming. We can rest, heal, and renew.
And most importantly, we can practise being kind. Kind to ourselves, and kind to all other beings. We truly are all in this together. We are all “sheltering at home” on our beautiful and generous planet Earth.