An Air of Change, Blog Post for Week 13 of the Coronavirus
The parks, plants therein, city flowers and trees have provided a level of calm in a highly anxious time. When our metropolis necessarily closed businesses and art institutions for the greater good living in tight quarters with few distractions has felt stifling to say the least. Even looking for moments in nature have been disrupted by those without masks who haven’t honored social distancing. It took a good month to find empty paths and safe havens for slices of calm in the ongoing stress of this pandemic.
Thanks to a recommendation, I took a long walk on Riverside Drive yesterday. I slowly ran through Central Park taking the bridal path and dirt trails along the way until I hit Central Park North. From there I headed west to Riverside Drive. It was so quiet, much like the summers before we ever heard of Covid-19. There was a continuous balcony of greens offering much needed restoration. The aroma of a verdant spring was in the air. It was exactly what I required before starting yet another week in the pandemic epicenter.
I even hugged a tree. It felt nice to share my appreciation with one of the many trees I encountered. I didn’t care if anyone saw me. And, though the road was clear for most of the time, there was a family playing close by when I went in for the hug. It’s so freeing to be at an age when I just don’t care if they thought I was crazy. Crazy Coronavirus times call for crazy acts of self-care. And, we all need care now. There is much repair to be done. Compassion and kindness are radical acts if they aren’t limited to only those who think similarly. Let’s care for ourselves, especially when we’ve been hard on ourselves for all the things we have and haven’t done. Let’s be considerate to others, especially those who are telling us they have been oppressed and have faced ongoing deprivation and discrimination.
Let’s disrupt the status quo with love, care, compassion and respect. Let’s heal all that ails us.
Self-Care Tips:
· Hug a tree. Whether you do that literally, or whether you just enjoy the company of a tree near you, the strength of the roots feeding the power of the giant plant is a positive metaphor for what many of us need.
· Find your sense of humor. There is a time and place for laughter, but finding levity even in extreme times, allows for emotional resilience when we need it most. Look at old tv shows you enjoyed, page through The New Yorker for the cartoons, find the absurdity in forgetting the many things that elude us when in Corona brain.
· Get a coloring book or a paint by numbers kit if you need an experience of control. Though it has its limits, being able to color within the lines during the Coronavirus, a time that challenges our sense of order, provides a concrete project in mental equilibrium.
· Paint on a Zen Board. It is the art of impermanence. Simply dip the brush in water and paint on the board. You can see your artwork and it fades to a blank canvas. It helps to remind us that social distancing will pass, and we can start over again.
· Give of yourself. In a time when there are so many avenues to stand up against racism, we are given an important opportunity to donate our money, time and talents so we advance the anti-racist movement forward.
