I posted the above photo on Facebook a couple of months ago, and captioned it 'How COVID has made us slow down and do things we should have been doing all along.' Now some five months down the road from the emergency Shelter In Place orders that were delivered to our state on March 19, there are aspects of the pandemic that have, surprisingly, altered my life for the better. And which I will work hard to keep in place even if/as the pandemic recedes over time.
Like taking time to figuratively sit outside and smell the roses, something we increasingly found ourselves not doing pre-pandemic. Our calendars continued to crowd up as we got busier and busier with external activities. Many of which we do miss, to be clear, but many of which we are finding we do not.
I am not missing the multitude of evening activities that involved being indoors somewhere watching something, rather than being an active participant. I am ever so thankful for all of the performances and talks and plays and concerts we have attended over the years, but many times I had to fight to stay awake, because my natural body rhythm is higher in the morning, slower in the evening. I'm a morning dove, not a night owl.
I have no such problems when we are outside. Increasingly our evenings are being spent either picnicking at the beach or our harbor, enjoying an evening swim and sunset viewing from our much-appreciated adult's only swimming pool (Wine! Views! Adult conversation!), dining al fresco at a nearby winery that has live music, or sitting out in someone's yard enjoying a socially distanced evening.
People seem to be craving conversation, ourselves included.
I am reading more. I am making an effort to stay in touch with my girlfriends more (vs. just our couples friends), we are chatting with and reading to our granddaughters multiple times a week via FaceTime rather than just on the weekend. I've taken up new hobbies - SUP yoga, guitar, golfing - and recommitted to those already in my arena of interests - Spanish, weight training, meditation - I'm no longer mourning what used to be, and am increasingly focused on what now is.
Things I am not sure we will return to in the same manner should we have to option to at some point - international travel. We have been fortunate to visit over 55 countries over our adult lifetime, and it was wonderful. However, I experience massive, crippling anxiety when we experience turbulence in the air during the required long haul air flights, and would not miss dealing with a few less of those, for sure. Additionally, we have fallen even more intrinsically in love with where we live than we even were before, and in the process I have learned how to simply be, a very challenging position for me to remain in.
One caveat, however - if and when we here in the USA are able to return to European travel, we'll be heading straight for Germany to visit our youngest daughter, son-in-law and granddaughters.
I've lessened by involvement in social media dramatically, and have appreciated the lift in positivism that decision has made room for as a result. The places where I do remain - blogs I find uplifting, and my positive-only Instagram feed - enhance my life at this point.
So today I will shortly step away from my computer and head out for a day in the altered world of COVID. My plan is to paddleboard around our harbor, then go for a walk around it while listening this engrossing podcast by the New York Times, Nice White Parents. Back home I plan to do some yard work in the shaded parts of my yard, plus a little laundry, then take a book over to our adults pool to read, soak, read, soak, as the heat requires. Some lovely eggplant Parmesan will be assembled in my kitchen for dinner, after which we'll sit outside on our balcony to watch the sunset.
I'm excited about the day. It's been a while since I've been able to say that on a consistent basis, and now that I can, I plan to work hard to stay there.
How about you? What positive changes have you made/experienced in your life as a result of the pandemic?