These past six weeks have been a crash course on remembering life before the pandemic. Our vaccinations opened doors: We have traveled by an airplane, we have eaten in several restaurants (inside and outside), we have visited many friends and family, we have attended a large birthday celebration with a rockin’ band and danced till our feet hurt, we’ve clinked many wine glasses cheering nothing more than just “being together” and we’ve hugged a whole bunch of people. It’s been beyond wonderful, but it has happened rather quickly. Or so it seems. While I wouldn’t take any of it back, I am wondering if this was always the pace? Is it just me or are we all launching out of the gates with some speed? Where the calendar pages used to look somewhat blank, they are suddenly filled with appointments, dinners, travel, events, and visitors.
I know this is a good thing returning to our lives as we knew them, but I want to make sure to incorporate what I learned during those months we stayed home and our lives became slower. I want to take the time to walk by myself listening to music or a podcast or nothing. I want to write even if that writing goes nowhere. I want to remain closely connected to my garden and notice the new flowers, the new vegetables and when things die or bolt or become deciduous. I want to listen to the birds. I want to set up the “TV trays” and watch a movie over a dinner we prepared together like we did so many nights during quarantine. I want to remain creative.
Amongst it all, I found there were areas of growth. I strengthened teaching yoga in a way I wouldn’t have prior to Zoom. This new way to access students gave me an opportunity to reach people I couldn’t teach due to distance. That was a huge gift. Does that go on in perpetuity? Or do people tire of it as they go back to their lives? We are navigating re-entry in our own ways, at our own speed and there are things to consider. We pondered going into the pandemic, it may be a good idea to ponder coming out in an effort to not lose sight of what we learned.
We received a “life is precious” lesson in real time. I want to remember it.