Are we more-free in the shelter-in-place world of COVID-19?
Is this a crazy thought?
Maybe not when you stop and think of the evolution of our programmed lives.
We live in a world where children only go outside for team sports and practices. Where our calendar rules our day with an iron fist. Where there is strict adherence to exercise programs and prescribed diets. An existence where phone calls only occur by appointment, even with our closest friends and family members. The thought of calling first without sending a text to ask permission . . . unthinkable!
Suddenly, in our new normal, we find ourselves with a newly-engineered freedom. Confinement to home has expanded our days and compressed our options. We are making do and making up things to do. In extreme cases, perhaps there is even a moment of being bored. When was the last time you picked up a fiction book just to get your mind off reality? Perhaps this has become part of your mental health treatment.
Our voluntary involuntary grounding provides more time to connect with friends and loved ones. Some of our conversation can even stray to more than a check-list of topics to cover. Dialogue that digs below the surface is not just accepted but welcomed as we linger in the environment of more available time. Oh, how delightful.
With our idle time we now have moments to imagine, allowing our brain to wander, not simply process information. We enter the world of a quieter mind that can remember the unnecessary and feel at a deeper level. During this season, we can get in touch with our own thoughts and feelings – not simply responding to the daily requirements. Introspection; it’s there for the taking.
The crisis will pass. Our world will return to the normal hustle and bustle. It is up to each one of us to take what we have learned into our future, being stronger and better for having walked this path.
Debbie Pearson
Founder