It is a lazy Saturday morning and I am feeling grateful.
I took an unexpected break from writing – like everything in this quarantine, there is no guidebook and there are no rules. I’m playing it by ear, focusing on my families health and happiness. And hanging on to my sanity as best I can.
You realize as the weeks and months go by how strange this all is. Isolating from humans is unknown to most of us. And it certainly has been a reminder of how much I appreciate the luxuries of life – like people.
I’m struck that we are collectively living through a chapter of history – really, one of the first notable moments in a generation. I’m trying to remember this, while also going through the motions of life.
Because for me, work hasn’t stopped – if anything, it has been far busier than normal. Balanced with working from home for the first time. And not just working from home, but working from home with a full house. My kids are doing online school and the days somehow pass by for all of us. I do think we’re finding ways to have joy most days.
This morning, though, I’m feeling immense gratitude. My house is sleeping in, which is unusual for my youngest. It is nearly 10am and I’ve been up for hours. I’ve had the chance to enjoy a hot cup of coffee and read my book by my front window. There is a steady rain, my dog sits beside me, and I’m reminded that really, everything that matters to me is right in the world.
I have read a lot of books this quarantine. I would heartily recommend anything in this stack below.
That was my first stack. Now I am on to my second stack. I am grateful for good books who can teach you something, inspire you or simply let you escape.
My current book, “City of Girls” by Elizabeth Gilbert, was meant to be an escape. It’s a story of a woman growing up in NYC in the 1940’s. It is a delightful story and it also hits on the remarkable history of the time.
As I am reminded about the sacrifices of the World War II generation, I am again reminded that this current quarantine is so privileged – at least for my family. We aren’t worried about anyone’s safety in the war, like my grandfather who served in World War II. We aren’t challenged with a lack of basic essentials like my grandparent’s who grew in the Depression and during the war. I remember their stories of food rations, their hours picking cotton in the fields of the south, traveling to Washington to pick apples with migrant workers, moving across the country to California to find opportunity and so many more sacrifices, just to survive.
That level of sacrifice is so foreign to me and for that, I am so lucky.
This particular moment in history is so challenging for many of us because our lives have been so….easy. We stress over toilet paper shortages and I’m reminded of my mom describing using pages of the Sears catalog for toilet paper in the outhouse at her grandma’s house. There wasn’t a toilet paper shortage, they were just poor. We are concerned about our boredom when we should be reminded that boredom is really the ultimate luxury. And we have unprecedented options for entertainment. There are no black-outs, energy shortages, or books rationed.
Really the context of history is so helpful. You are reminded that this chapter will ultimately be, a chapter, in the rich history of the world. And generations before us have survived and persevered through so much more.
Now, this blog really only applies to me and my immediate universe. I continue to be so grateful for the helpers who are healing the sick and keeping our world running, putting themselves in grave danger. It doesn’t account for the homeless or hungry, of which there are many. It doesn’t reference the domestic abuse survivors or other people who are in danger, in their own home.
But it does remind me to be grateful. To enjoy my quiet morning. And to keep choosing joy.
The Redefining 