The Power of Moving Moment to Moment
Covid19 Pandemic - Post II
First, another huge wave of care coming your way!
Collectively, we feel poised for an unpredictable and difficult short-term future - even it is also certain to be threaded with love, resilience, courage, and the potentiality for transformative good.
I've actually been a bit ill myself this week (my doctor assesses probable and mild Covid19!) and - like most of you, no doubt - my family and I have been adjusting to quite radically altered new rhythms and routines on the home front.
I'm feeling mostly well on the mend, but I haven't yet had/made the time to create a new work schedule or start offering some responsive coaching sessions and virtual group events, as I feel called to do.
I also haven't yet decided if I'm going to launch my new podcast this month, as planned - or delay that project until a later time. (I'll keep you posted!)
Perhaps you've been feeling similarly: orienting to this new global reality such that you haven't yet determined any grand new plan for the future.
I'm writing to remind you: it's ok if you're swirling with a lot of 'not-knowing.'
I'm noticing a couple of themes with businesses over the last week:
Some seem to be continuing on as though it's 'life as usual," putting out their typical ('pre-pandemic') marketing communications. That feels oddly asynchronous and kind of tune-deaf to me - disconnected from our new shared reality.
Others seem to be pivoting at the speed of light. All power to them and, in many ways, I admire that capacity to rebound so quickly. But I observe that I'm not quite ready for all the new stuff, either: i's as though I'm still getting my sea legs and just beginning to integrate 'what is' (and actively parenting a ton of the time! ;)).
It's almost like neither feels quite right to me: the old or the new. Rather, I'm in a liminal space, orienting and paying attention in the unfolding here and now.
So, here's what I want to give you and me permission for in this moment: it's ok to not yet know exactly how you're going to proceed in some significant area(s) of your life.
Maybe you anticipate needing to rejig your home life, your business, your finances, or all of the above but you just don't know how yet.
That's ok.
If you're anything like me, you may additionally have been drinking from the media like a firehose over the past week (it's only been 8 days since the WHO officially declared this pandemic!), trying to comprehend, interpret and understand better what the hell is happening and how respond skilfully - as an individual and in loving coordination with your community - to protect all of us and especially the most vulnerable.
In fact, rather than trying to know and map your exact future, I'm thinking there may be a wisdom to slowing down, exhaling, and pausing right about now.
It's been a hell of a week, dearheart.
These times also brought to my mind a card in the Zen Osho Zen Tarot Deck:
Sometimes life requires our agility and presence, such that we are invited to discern just one step at at a time... only truly able to take one clear step a time. (Collegial coach and friend, Indy Batth, once shared a similar phrase with me: 'from clarity to clarity').
I wanted to share this card because I think the capacity to be very present and simply take one next step at a time - neither clinging to the past nor attempting to project (at least very far) into the future, may be helpful.
It is not comfortable for those of us who like to strategize, plan and - ahem, control life a tad - but I do perceive that this pandemic presents a huge opportunity to practice this 'moment-to-moment' way of dancing with life.
Here's the description for the card in this tarot deck:
As this figure moves across the stones, he steps lightly and non-seriously, and at the same time, absolutely balanced and alert. Behind the swirling, ever-changing waters we can see the shape of buildings; there appears to be a city in the background. The man is in the marketplace but at the same time, outside of it, maintaining his balance and able to watch it from above.
This card challenges us to move away from our preoccupations with other spaces and other times, and stay alert to what is happening in the here and now. Life is a great ocean in which to play if you drop all your judgments, your preferences, and the attachment to the details of your long term plans. Be available to what comes your way, as it comes.
I'm not trying to pretend that it is easy to shift to this way of living (at all!) - nor to minimize the related threats, losses, and tragedies now and ahead - but I think that this invitation and opportunity is profound and that we can develop strength and mastery in living with greater 'moment-to-moment' orientation.
So, if you feel like you're just managing to get your head, heart, emotions and daily activities wrapped around the 'new normal' and haven't gotten as far as mapping out a detailed (or perhaps even loosely sketched!) personal or professional strategy for the indefinite future, please don't worry.
You'll get there - and in a few days or weeks you'll have more internal and external information to guide you, to boot. (Are schools opening again or not? What's the likely duration of this 'social distancing' phase? Is there indication we have begun to 'flatten the curve? and more...)
So, as you're able: exhale. rest. pause.
Moment to moment - that's all we need to do, and in many ways, in truth, that's all we can do.
So, what's your one next wise step, dear one?
A nap?
A call to your tax accountant?
Tidying up your kitchen?
A day-long media fast to give your nervous system a break?
Whatever it is, that's ALL you need to know in this moment - the rest will unfold.
P.S. If you’ve got a lot going on in your life, whereby it’s taking all you’ve got to orient yourself and move as adaptively and flexibility as you can, consider coaching. I’d be honored to have your back and be a thought-partner as you move through a season of flux, to help you stay true to yourself and anchored in your values and strengths as you go. If you want to set up a free 60-minute consult chat, please be in touch. I’d love to explore connecting with you.
Nicola Holmes is a Life Coach who helps people turn their potent questions, dream and longings into inspired action. With warmth and wisdom, she’ll guide you to untangle constraints and cultivate courage to create a more aligned and joyful life. She has a BASc in Human Development, an MEd in Adult Learning and spent two decades working in the non-profit sector. Along with coaching for the past 14 years, she’s mama to two young spirited kids and dedicated to Buddhism. Having experienced long Covid and a move over the past two years, she brings deep empathy to others who are exploring how they’ve changed and who they’re becoming in turbulent times. Check out Nicola @nicolaholmescoach or join the email party for inspiration and resources to fuel the changes you want.