I had been emailing back and forth with a friend sharing my frustrations with all of the stalls, transitions, pivots, and general waiting that I’ve been experiencing the past year and a half concerning a potential move. This all had started for me in a pre-COVID world, so the addition of a pandemic only added a much greater depth to my woes.

We get so very used to the movement of progressing through our days, weeks and months that we don’t like it very much when that forward motion stops. Onward we like to go with our accomplishing, our ticking off lists, our getting to the next steps, our anticipating the future…

This virus has definitely put a giant kibosh on all of that flow. The luxury of how things used to be is gone, and we’ve all had to find ways to cope. Our attention has been unceremoniously rerouted to the very real realm of the present.

Extreme circumstances force us to work with how things are going instead of how we want them to be.  With new challenges to find ways to adapt and innovate, we have a chance to break through our illusion that we have ultimate control over anything!

I believe that our greatest strength in getting through what we consider to be chaos lies in our resilience.  We bounce, but, hopefully, we don’t have to break. And if we break, we can glue ourselves back together! We can overcome if we don’t give up.

Second to resilience for me is the need to have a sense of humor. One of our saving graces is the truly wonderful capacity that we have to make fun of ourselves. My latest favorite laugh-out-loud meme is the one asking you to choose your Quarantine Spirit Chonk! Too funny!

Laughter is a great release.  We need to do it more – and especially now. We put so much stress on ourselves for all kinds of reasons, and this virus has added stresses that we couldn’t have ever imagined in our before lives.

Focusing on the present offers a simplicity that is often overlooked in our usual hustle-bustle. I now see more people out walking and riding bikes. I see the (forced) acceptance of grayer hair, less make-up and casual clothes. I see appreciation and acceptance for what is normally taken for granted.

When things slow down, get stuck or don’t proceed in a certain way, it doesn’t mean that nothing is happening. My email friend pointed out that periods like these are as active as any others – and that it’s just because we don’t see anything “happening” that we don’t think anything is!

We all understand that there is plenty going on when a seed is sown into fertile ground. The gardener and the farmer know that all kinds of things are transpiring under the surface whether they see it or not. Because of this recognition, they rely on the fact that the seed will sprout into something wonderful!

Unlike the farmer, though, we don’t know what’s being planted right now. But, like the farmer, we can become aware that something is still stirring into creation for us even beyond our desired timing or intentions.

So, am I moving or not moving?  I’m patiently waiting for that sprout to poke through the dirt. My Spirit Chonk is beside me, though, so I am in good company!