On Feeling Alive & Connected
There are two things that make me cuss. Being cold… and playing golf. Perhaps these days there are a few other things, but those are the main two. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I hate being cold and that I get cold easily. And yet, this morning I intentionally went on my walk when it felt like 37* outside. The cold air blasted my face and filled my lungs. My hands ached with cold. As I took in the early morning sights of my neighborhood waking up, and watched William ride his bike ahead of me, I realized that as much as I actually hate it, the cold makes me feel alive.
This feeling of being alive brings with it the realization of our being a part of a greater humanity. One that is collectively moving through the rhythms of this pandemic day after day... As we soldier on through these times of chronic uncertainty, sickness, fear, it is easy to become numb and disconnected. I thought I would offer some ways that I am intentionally working to combat these things. This is indeed not an exhaustive list, simply some commentary on what I am doing. Would love to hear what you are doing as well!
1. Connect with my Creator
I try to go outside in the cold every morning. Barefoot. And stand in the grass. Just standing there long enough for my coffee to get cold, and reminding me that I do indeed still hate the cold. However, this combination of the brisk chill and sensing underfoot the grass growing from the earth of the Creator is powerful for me. It grounds me (no pun intended) to greater things. Sounds woo-woo… but stick with me here. Try it. Tell me what you think.
2. Connect with my body
I do Pilates. And I love it. I did it outside in the backyard one sunny, beautiful day this week and it was amazingly refreshing. For me, there is something specifically about Pilates—strengthening of the deep core muscles while focusing on proper form and control, while synchronizing breathing—that has been life-changing. Joseph Pilates said “Pilates is complete coordination of body, mind and spirit.” I know others who connect with their bodies with other forms of exercise—whatever works for you—now is the time to be putting it into practice!
3. Connect with time
I sit, in the silence of the morning, coffee in hand, and stare at the Christmas tree. (Anyone else just love the quiet, and the ambient light?) In this Advent season of waiting, I believe there is power in slowing down. Reflecting. For me, this bigger picture of anchoring myself to familiar points on the calendar, which will come and go every year—pandemic or not—helps me to feel alive as part of a much larger marching on of time.
4. Connect with creativity
My guilty pleasure during COVID has been buying books. (Sorry, Matt….) I have found myself devouring words of others and finding inspiration in their stories and insight. I have also found myself writing every single day. It isn’t always something that I feel the need to share publicly, but the words feel as if they are tumbling out of my heart. It has become a practice that goes along with coffee and staring at the Christmas tree. Historically, I have been a very creative person, but as responsibilities and children have been added to my life, I have found this area to slip away. Some recent experiences have allowed this side of me to come out of hibernation and it has been richly rewarding…. I am also working on a little passion project with a new Instagram account called sacred.creativity so I will share more about that as it comes to life.
5. Connect with family
· Kids
In the more recent days of quarantine, even with more time together, there have been added responsibilities and emotions that have made one-on-one time with my children more difficult. I am finding ways to incorporate my time with each of them into daily activities. For example, William likes to go with me on my walks. Hannah likes to walk with me to get the mail and sometimes a bit further to the ponds in our neighborhood. It has also been fun (because I nerd out on stuff like this) to watch different dynamics pop up when I have different combinations of kids together.
· Spouse
Date nights have looked different these days. Prior to our family’s need to isolate and quarantine we were still able to have a babysitter and we could at least go out to eat and perhaps drive or walk around somewhere. These days while we are stuck at our house, we will send the kids upstairs to watch a movie so that Matt and I can have a stay-in date night. I might share some more ideas on these, but an example—other than watching a movie or playing a game—would be what we did last night, which was to work on writing our bucket lists. We brainstormed individual activities as well as shared experiences. It was so much fun to dream together!
· Extended Family
We were unable to have our annual Labor Day gathering this year, which was a huge bummer. What happened instead though, is that we were in frequent communication that weekend through GroupMe, sharing photos and activities that our little families were doing. We have since stayed in contact more than usual, which has been so much fun.
6. Connect with humor
I have a newly-found love for memes. In the early days of the pandemic, these brought lighthearted laughter about the very strange situation we all found ourselves in. After a while, the meme scene quieted, I noticed, as the pandemic drug on… as we all realized that we were in it for the long haul. I feel like it has picked back up and I am thrilled! Again, these tidbits of humor connect us… because of our collective understanding. I love the thrill of a good laugh! Another place I have found great humor and connection is amongst my co-workers. I work with the kindest, most hilarious folks, and it brings me great joy to engage with them. Particularly, in the heavy line of work that we are involved in, the levity of humor is a precious jewel.
Alright, friends, those are mine. Would love to hear from you! Drop me a comment or send me an e-mail at allison@redefinedmotherhood.com and let me know what you are doing to remain feeling connected and alive during this pandemic!