Tag: health

LOVE in the Time of Covid-19

I regularly pull from a deck of Animal Medicine Cards to set my intention for the day or get an idea of where my head is really at. Not surprisingly, I picked Armadillo out of the card fan this morning. Its guidance? Boundaries.

As someone who has been watching the news on a limited basis and attempting to keep my own hand on the rudder as I steer through 24/7 CVN (CoronaVirus News), it was perfect. Of course, that’s the double-edged sword:

  • Are you seeing what you want to see? Gathering justification for fear and hunkering down?
  • Or as the guidebook directs, thinking about “what you will and won’t do; what makes you feel uncomfortable and what is comforting to you.” Manifesting your intentions and commanding the universe?

I armed myself with these thoughts as I ventured out for my daily “hell no, I’m not staying in.” The official pronouncements have worked on me in classic deprivation fashion. Tell your body you can’t have something and it wants It.

That’s not to say that I’ve embraced what a friend calls “covidiocy.” I’m trying to do what I haven’t done most of my life – to respond instead of react, or perhaps pay more attention to what my gut reactions are saying.

How do you:

  • Discern what keeps us safe in a world where every little thing from a handshake to a hug carries danger;
  • Pick apart fact from fear-mongering;
  • Ground yourself when chaos is hovering everywhere;
  • Hold a steady and normal course in these windy and rough times of change?

I imagine all of us are struggling with this, and the temptation is to be judgmental when people “come down” in a different place than you. How would it be if we noticed that deep-down, this is what the world needs – to protect, understand and respect each other again. To heal from the inside out.

Agent of Change

So… like so many others, I’m now in L.A. with a dream. Of course how to materialize it and how it materializes is the rub.

There had been a vague intention and outline of a plan, but what pushed me into action was more a jumping-out-of-my-skin Gotta Get Out of Here. Sure, the “more opportunities” thing awaited, but not a real job as tsk-tskers would say. I’m Taurean, and the lack of a stable prospect scared the crap out of me, but my Five of Spades birth card of the Wanderer put me on the move lest I blow something up.

The good folks I’ve met at L.A. Meetups have been mirrors to notice my What the Heck. Name, Who You Are, and 90-Day Goal introductions often free-formed into musings of hope and dissatisfaction about ourselves and this city of dreams. I say it without irony because L.A. absolutely still is – both stereotypically and authentically – where people come to see what they are made of. An Indian American music producer /composer from Austin, TX and a Canadian “composer for media” had had successes back home, but both were here with game plans for More. The former is giving himself the classic one-year window to find more gigs, and the latter sojourns twice a year for opportunity tours. Other stories include that of the organizer of the Create Yourself – Los Angeles Meetup and a Japanese American film maker who walk the talk every day by crafting work and a life in the industry that they want to be proud of.

My timeline? Nothing beyond Now. The work? Hmmm…health and wellness? Dare I stretch to say Healing Body, Mind and Soul? Writing? Just “something” to bring in the $$? As life would have it, the ruminating was interrupting by a giant crash as I literally and horrifyingly broke a beautiful piece of artwork in the house I was staying. Dust settled and glass shards and shavings mopped up, the message was clear to have a session with my main ally in life.

The answers from a Willow session are always unexpected and big if you let it be. We discovered quickly that goal-setting was a priority, but (and the “but” is key) the guidance was specific – “within the parameters of joy.” Making that distinction opened up possibilities that hadn’t occurred to me when I was only goal-oriented.

It was a subtlety that brings light-year-measurable forward movement. How different would daily, weekly and monthly goals be if I also slowed down to savor the simple pleasures of life? What if I dropped the judgments about all the things I should do and listened to the voice that connects me to myself and a deeper pride? What would happen?