Thoughts from a Pandemic

As we prepare or continue to hunker down for a ‘long’ winter, I’m taking joy from little moments.  Cherishing them as they appear:

• Having tea with my youngest son
• Text message streams with my oldest who lives across the water
• Conversations on Facebook with my sister across the world
• The round robin of updates from my siblings in Europe and Asia
• This calls and messages from Friends to say hello and I miss you
• The small acts of kindness of others
• The creativity I see emerge from this time of fear and challenge

           
I’m an introvert who’s always stepped into her costume and played the extrovert, now I don’t have to.  I’m spending more time in reflection – asking myself much deeper questions than I might have if we hadn’t been in a pandemic, and lockdown.

•  How will I look back at this time and my reaction during the pandemic?           
• What lessons am I learning – about myself? About my community?
•  Have I supported others, are there other things I could do?           
• What beliefs are showing up for me – positive or negative?
•  What do I want to change in my life now?

 
My coach supervisor asked me:  Who are you professionally, what is your coach Identity?  A question I’ve been playing with.   However, it prompts another question:

• Who am I?  What is my identity as a human?

 
A fascinating question that’s asking me to look into my values, my inner self not just as I see me, but also as how I show up in the World. 

• Where do I draw my line in the sand?  What is true for me?
• What are the boundaries I set for myself; for others?

 
As an immigrant to my Country of choice, I am a proud Canadian, however I’m also a proud Irish person.  Neither of these countries were where I was brought up, I’ve always felt a bit of an outsider.  Maybe it’s because of the roaming childhood, maybe it’s just who I am. 
 
And I ask myself  – where do I belong?
           
I know many are facing incredibly difficult challenges, loss of livelihood, business or profession, stress, pandemic burnout, family challenges with children, partners, parents.  I can empathize, I vividly remember the phone call telling me my mother had passed, I was across the ocean thousands of kilometres away, at least then I was able to book a flight and get home to say goodbye, today that’s almost impossible. How do you manage?
 
I have a sweater I knitted during the final days of my father’s passing, it’s green silk extremely complex.  When stressed, I knit.  It’s my outlet, and the more stressed I am, the more complicated the pattern.   I still have that sweater, and I take it out now and then,  and it reminds me, of that time.  A time when my family came together, a time of memories good and bad, however a time of honouring my dad in his final days, and in all I can say the memories feel  supportive, I wrap them around me like a warm blanket, and I know I’m okay!
 
So I ask you, how are you managing?  What are you taking from these extraordinary times? And what can you learn?  And, what do you need?
 
I want to offer anyone who wishes a complimentary hour with me… to talk, to have an ear to listen.  Contact me here and I will send you my calendar link.  You will not be put on a mailing list, nor contacted again by me unless you decide to re-connect.  This is my ‘Christmas gift’ to you, and me….
Take care and stay safe

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