Keeping it slow and simple during COVID-19: where to start

Well, I’ve had a little break from blogging (and all social media, more on that later). I never thought when I last posted in December that in 3 or 4 months we would be in the middle of a pandemic, under a lockdown. And yet here we are…

Many of us have been forced into a slower, simpler way of life, whether we wanted it or not. Many thing we took for granted before, like being able to go out whenever we wanted, is now off-limits. But rather than focusing on what we cant’t do, it’s time to focus on what we can do. You don’t have to be “making COVID-19 count” by being super-productive (and I suggest you don’t!), but just lean into it. Lean into the boredom, the quiet, the extra time with family members. Lean into the the anxiety, the unknown. See what emerges.

We were home schoolers already, so we’re not experiencing the big changes some of you are out there, but we have health conditions in our household which make this a tricky situation. I actually have less free time than I did before due to another family member having to be “shielding”, and the rest of us social distancing in the house. I’m trying to focus on keeping things as regular as possible for the kids, so we’re still doing our usual home school stuff, as well as using Zoom to keep in touch with friends from various groups we were going to.

For myself, I’m trying to do some form of exercise each day, as well as meditating using the Insight Timer app. I actually really struggle with routine, so mixing things up some days is helping with the monotony – we have been in the house for 18 days now! Hopefully that will end soon and we can at least go for a walk. I’m trying to notice the changes of these strange times, for instance today I noticed it was much easier to hear the birdsong in the morning with far fewer cars around.

These times are challenging, it’s totally ok not to be coping with it, or not to be being productive with all of this so-called free time we’re all supposed to have. Just take it one day at a time (or if things get really bad, take it one hour at a time), work out what needs to be done, and what can be left, and do that. Be gentle with yourself.