Small Package, Big Gift
“The Universe provides abundantly when you’re in a state of gratefulness.”
This month we’re still in the throws of the COVID-19 pandemic and I am still bursting with gratitude for the gift it has given us. And no, self- quarantining has not made me lose my mind. Rather, it has allowed me to re-find it.
On the surface, we see hardship, fear, death and disruption to life as we knew it, and yes, that is very real. But if you turn and look at it from a different lens, you will see that this is giving us an opportunity to recalibrate and rebalance – and on a worldwide scale! How truly amazing that this tiny little virus could shake us to our cores and make us do something we didn't seem willing to do on our own – stop the hamster wheel that we have been told we need to be on. And it is the very machine that benefits from our staying busy and distracted and unquestioning that is telling us we need to start the wheel again. But do we?
The virus has pushed a very big STOP button, and I for one am so happy. People are being asked to go inside - literally and spiritually – to disconnect. Some are resisting because they’re clinging to their lives of distractions that passed for productivity or doing something of true value. Some are clinging to the heavy “storefronts” they present to the world, which supports the ego but circumvents the soul. And saddest of all, some are clinging to their rote old narratives and behaviors so they don’t have to come face to face with themselves and do the hard work of making change. Ironic, and sad, that the thing feared more than a deadly virus is time spent alone with ourselves.
Yet there are others of us who have found complete and utter freedom not being enslaved to the old beliefs and narratives. We are wondering why we believed we needed to be so busy, have so much stuff, be so important, so selfish and so closed to actually living. For those that choose to see this pandemic as a gift, we are happier than we’ve ever been. Yes, we all have less money, less convenience and less toilet paper, but we now see there is more time to connect with our families and friends and communities. There is more time to be living, not just doing! Turns out, many of us have been wanting off the roller coaster for quite some time, and we are seeing how many others had secretly been waiting for the ride to stop too.
It’s no coincidence that the universe, who’s wisdom is much greater than that of humankind, unleashed the virus at this time in history. We needed an intervention of this magnitude to stop us from destroying our humanity and our beautiful planet. It also happened in the age of technology, where it would be easy to crawl down the rabbit hole of self indulgent distraction and isolation. Instead, people around the world are sharing the collective hardship, sorrow and fear, they are also sharing their creativity, humor, silliness, selflessness and gratitude. I am able to check in with friends around the globe and be reminded that we are all having the same experience at the same time. We are able to comfort, laugh, cry and share at a time when that is not physically possible. How incredibly profound!!!!!
For me, this virus arrived at a time when I had truly lost all hope for humanity. I could only see the world speeding up more and more each day, and people seeming to care less and less as they spun out of control. Self-importance, self-delusion and self-interest seemed to go unchecked and often rewarded. No one seemed to hear the cries of Mother Earth as we made her suffer so. And the attitudes and games governments played with each other made us forget that we are all on the same big blue ball floating through space TOGETHER!
This little microscopic parasite packs an awful lot of lessons in its tiny protein shell. As the farmer must burn his field to make the soil richer and the next crop more abundant, so too must we purge what no longer works for our selves, our families and our communities. We are fearful watching the cycle of death and destruction because we are seeing that it is not in our control, and maybe because we are seeing that we’ve wasting life on things that ultimately have no value. But ultimately, the cycle of re-birth and renewal comes next, and with it, the opportunity to create something better and happier and more meaningful than we had before.
We have been given the most amazing gift. Let’s not waste it.
PS: (Caution: shameless mom plug)
There are so many artists expressing the changes we’re all experiencing. My son, Penn Eastburn is a Brooklyn, NY artist exploring this in his work with a digital/mixed media series called Off The Grid. He can be found on Instagram at @pennochio.
