| I don’t know about you, but in the last 5 weeks, I’ve been avoiding my inbox. I checked in for the transactional stuff, but I left many items unread because I just wasn’t ready to think about all of this COVID stuff and the implications to our world moving forward. I needed space. I needed quiet. I needed a pause from the noise so I could hear my own thoughts and suss out my own feelings. But on Saturday morning, I started scrolling through all the unread messages. It was an impulse to tidy-up no doubt, but also an eagerness to hear from others about what meaning we’re making from all this, and what the next chapter might look like. “What do I want the future to look like?” One article a friend forwarded to me was entitled, “The Great Pause.” It offered an economic and cultural perspective of the pandemic published by Open Democracy. The questions it asked are important ones: “Will we remain obsessed with growth at all costs?” “Will we begin to pay attention to (and value) social and ecological wellbeing?” And, “can we build back better?” Essentially, now is the time to ask these questions and deeply listen to our own truth. Each of us has our own questions ranging from the mundane to the profound, from the personal to global. And we don’t need answers, yet. But we do need to explore and get curious. What does this Great Pause mean to us and what do we want to take away from it? The adage, “never waste a crisis,” feels particularly relevant. It’s in these exceptional times that our perceptions shift. If we pay attention, these shifts shape our growth and our ultimate evolution. So, my invitation to you at this time is to notice the questions you’re asking. What am I noticing?What am I resisting? What am I hoping for?What’s changed about what I truly value?What’s worth my time and attention, now?What do I most need right now? Take it deeper Try this. Set a timer for 15 minutes and free write without stopping or editing. Just let your thoughts pour onto the page. Or, if you’re not the writer type, take a walk and pay attention to what bubbles up. Begin to tune into the voice beneath the mental chatter. Notice your wonderings, what questions arise for you? No judgment, no need to fix or solve or do anything. Just attention to the inquiry happening inside you. A helpful tip is to listen to the phrases that begin with the words, “I wonder…” “ I wish…” or “What if…?” Take a pause. Tune in and listen. This is how we’ll find our way forward. Shine on. |
