In the midst of this global pandemic, I find myself in a foreign country far away from everything that I know and separated from everyone that I love, which has created space for me to get to know and fall in love with, well, me! This pandemic has forced us to step outside our constant state of busyness and doing; propelling us into a state of simply, being. Being with family, being with a friend or two, or being all by ourselves (depending on who you’re in isolation with). Regardless of who or where in the world you find yourself, introspection and self-awareness seem almost inevitable, as we find ourselves with more time to ourselves now more than ever before. This give rise to the possibility of getting to know ourselves, learning to love ourselves and maybe choosing better paths for ourselves on the other side of all the chaos and panic in the world. At least that is my hope in all of this, that we are all able to look and love within, and that hope is what inspired this poem that I felt compelled to write as a symbol that there is a silver lining. For me the silver lining is that I am learning a deeper state of gratitude for the people and things and freedoms that I might have taken for granted and most importantly, gratitude and love for myself. So here’s to finding Love in Isolation:

All alone with nobody but me to hold
An unfamiliar feeling of self-love begins to grow
So I take the time to get to know me again.

And try to mend all the wounds bestowed upon me through social interaction.
As I sift through all the mundane distractions I find the attraction to myself.
Paying more attention to my health, eating right, working out, sleeping deeply, dreaming sweetly;
Realizing that health is wealth.

Learning that I am much more than the work I do and so are you.
That our true worth and value lies deep within and so we begin,
To see the beauty in being lonely and diving into ourselves wholly.

Feeling gratitude and giving thanks for all the things that we once took for granted, because we’ve always had all that we needed and wanted:

Like the smell of the trees,
the chirping of birds,
The buzzing of bees,
The sound of a strangers laughter,

The feeling of a warm hug,
And seeing someone that tugs at your heart strings,
Waving hello & goodbye at the airports arrival and departure,
Sunshine on my skin,
And all of nature’s beauty,
Or the waves of the ocean,
And a long rivers flowing motion,
Or the sound of churches and temples ringing with prayer, meditation and devotion.

Yet we rise as we realize that all of nature’s beauty lies deep within our souls
That we can be healed and whole if we let an unfamiliar feeling of self-love begin to grow
And take the time to get to know us again.