The world as we know it is done. Things are fast a changing. Schools are closed. People are working from home. Routines have been tippled upside down and inside out. People are frazzled. Children are frustrated. Anxiety is soaring. Our reality has shifted and it’s time to come to grips.
Society has become so (probably too) accustomed to their reality. To how things run. To instant gratification and the here and now. For planning in the future. For having unlimited choice and possibilities. For taking way too much for her granted. For assuming things will always be how we want them to be. For living blindly in the world because our day to day patterns are so ingrained within. Then all of a sudden, a massive wave crashes across the whole world and boom, our safe, secure and familiar reality has been washed away and now it’s time to start afresh. Damn hard.
In these unprecedented times where’s there’s only uncertainty, we need to look within for what is certain and appreciate that. It’s hard. It’s unsettling. It’s painful. But it’s back to basics people. Appreciate the sun will rise and set. Appreciate the sounds you hear and the smells you smell. Explaining this to small kids ain’t easy. They don’t get it, let alone do we as adults? Hold on tight to what we’re familiar with. And use that as a grounding tool and some sort of security. Whether that be menial things like cooking the same meal, watching the same programme, singing the same songs or reading the same bedtime stories. Hold on to what we have, for now.
I’m trying to come to grips that things are out of place. It does not matter my toddler wants to wear mismatched socks and is ruining my laundry OCD. It doesn’t matter if she wants lunch on 3 different plates instead of one. It doesn’t matter if there are toys sprawled everywhere and cleaning takes place when they asleep. It doesn’t matter that school routine is gone. It’s about looking within, remaining calm and breathing. It’s all we can do for now.
Our reality has been mismatched. What we know has changed. But now is the time to accept and start afresh. We’re moving to a more minimalistic and simple way of life. And it’s beautiful. Less about the externalities and more about the internal. Less about the ostentatious and more about the authentic. It’s a perspective change. A hard one which will take adapting and adjusting to. We just need to find that inner calm voice, and listen to it. The chaos and noise in the world is loud and deafening. Social media and the news are blearing into our ears, try mute it. Just hear the voice that’s calling for a calmer, simpler way of being. (Yes I am preaching, but I’m trying too).