When my son was so sick I shared how stupid I found it was to go and on about winning the lottery. Well, now the whole world is sick, and it is a BILLION times stupider. So I’m not going to talk about the lottery.
I’m going to share blessings about isolation. As I acknowledge both that I am a selfish, self-centered person and that this COVID-19 isolation is temporary, these are self-centered and temporary blessings. Also, as I enjoy the Medieval language of number symbols, I am sharing nine blessings – nine being the square of 3, the holy number. If I really went all out for the number thing, I would do 27 blessings – 27 being the holy number cubed (3x3x3). But I won’t bore you that much.
One day life will go back to normal and I will be hustling and bustling from one thing to another, complaining that I don’t have time for doing this or accomplishing that. But for now these are the gifts of my isolation –
Each day I can: 1. read as much as I want. 2. write as long as I want. 3. work in my garden as long as I want. 4. practice piano as much as I want. 5. sight read as much new music as I want. (Speaking of new music, I am exploring the piano music of Friedrich Nietzsche. You know the that-which-does-not-kill-me-makes-me-stronger guy. Seems appropriate for this crazy situation.) 6. pray and meditate as long as I want. 7. binge on Midsomer Murders as long as I want. 8. talk to friends and family as long as my phone battery lasts. 9. spend all day being grateful I am healthy enough to be bored, and not flat on my back struggling to breathe.
I know this post is making light of my response to a serious, serious, serious situation. As the poet wrote, “If I should laugh at any human thing, it is that I should not weep.” I laugh only at myself; I do not make light of those who suffer and those who grieve. My heart weeps for you.
I do not make light of you who are out there keeping me safe in here. You who are taking care of our sick do not have time to weep. You who are working to keep our society going have little energy to laugh. You are worthy of blessings mighty and eternal – blessings times blessings times blessings.