These are unusual times. During this pandemic, we are more than “normally” (and what is the new normal) confined to our homes and our thoughts. If you have managed to create a new lifestyle around the social distancing and home confinement, you may have even reduced your TV and Social media time for anxiety control. You may have found the Days of each week Blending Together. You may not even remember what day it is or what the date is for today. Perhaps this is even important. Perhaps being present and reflective is a survival technique which may lead to a new state of “Pandemic Enlightenment”…

Increased awareness and spiritual insights are often born out of difficult challenges. SO, get busy…!!! Discover YOUR lesson and its Wisdom… AND, once you discover your new insight find the best ways to share your new wisdom. This whole lifestyle adjustment is more than:
hand washing to an extreme,
wearing a mask which prevents smiling at people,
reducing your showers or clothes changing because you are not going out,
side-stepping people you pass in public,
food shopping for safety at 7:00 AM,
knowing how to stand 6+ feet apart as you wait for your “take out,”
searching aimlessly for hand sanitizer and clorox wipes (& TP) at Costco,
AND, joining an endless amount of Zoom conference calls to speak with other humans.

These adjustments have caused most of us to behave differently and to think about what we took lightly in the past… Craving a hug or hand shake. Carelessly, hanging out in a social situation with less than 6+ feet between us. Going shopping in a Mall with crowds of anxious, frantic people and loud children. Boy, we miss those days of naive simple consumerism.

But, have you been forced out into nature? Have you had to fill your time in Meditations? Did you find yourself reading a “good” book instead of “binge-watching” bad television/movies? Did you have to call family and friends to check-in? Did you have time to cook your own dinner and breakfast and lunch and snacks, two or three times per day? Sure, social media has filled in your day but didn’t you “CRAVE” hanging out with “real people?” There is an important lesson in this… Besides the necessary hand washing, you have found a new need for connection! Besides complaining and whining, you have actually learned who do you know in your life who can actually listen and respond with empathy.

Besides shopping and “eating out,” there are other ways to connect with friends and family that cost less and may have more value. Caring for other people is the least expensive way of sharing Love! Appreciation and Gratitude also may bubble up in these times of lifestyle change. Perhaps, most important is being more fully “present” in each moment in Nature or with the people we care about. We are all in this together… AND, YOU are a Blessing! Continue to learn and to grow in these times of life challenges… If nothing else, twenty years (or maybe 20 days) from now you will have great survival stories of the 2020 Pandemic and Hand Washing Craze…

Added on these thoughts… (The not so fun parts of our current, 2020, lives.)
(NOW, we have been faced with a new “drama” with demonstrations highlighting the cultural racism which has been “accepted” in our culture too long. White privilege was brought to this hemisphere by the earliest explorers and first settlers. They, and their religious beliefs, thought that they were superior to the indigenous peoples they thought “They Discovered.” Eventually, because they had the guns, they believed that they were the true saviors of this hemisphere however they needed slaves to work their stolen land. It is like this privilege has now been built into white folks’ cultural DNA. Relinquishing power and, perceived control, does not come easily to those folks in “power.” Black Lives Matter! All Lives Matter! However, releasing our old, established habits and patterns is NEVER an easy, though necessary, choice these weird days. Positive change challenges us. It forces us to reassess our established patterns and habits. Perhaps, the first step in a positive direction is to understand and admit “white privilege” exists and also admit that this needs to change for a better world. (Change is NOT easy. Changing our cultural DNA is needed but a difficult, uphill fight…)

AND. We are ALL in this together and one and the same…)

Thanks for your time and consideration. Your insights and experiences are unique and a blessing, so please share these…

If you are READY and looking for a supportive community where you can share your story, your wisdom, and grow spiritually in a non-religious environment, consider Masters of the Journey.
You are a Blessing! You are a Master! Your wisdom from your life experience can have great value to other pilgrims on the path toward awakening and enlightenment.

The Masters of the Journey has events which are updated on our Facebook page which is found at: www.facebook.com/mastersofthejourney Please comment on this blog and share, if appropriate. More of our blogs are based on spiritual consciousness and can be found at www.dstress.com/blog