This year’s Mother’s Day may have been quite different for most of us. While we weren’t able to physically embrace our loved ones we tried to make the best of it. Just as we have for the entirety of this quarantine. During this pandemic, I have been trying to take in each moment and not miss all the lessons that are coming my way. What am I supposed to be learning from this time? What do I want my life to look like when this is all over? So throughout this experience I have been keeping notes about what I’ve been noticing. So here it goes:
I don’t typically put aside enough time checking in with family/friends.
My brain is always in planning mode (my brain was constantly trying to switch into planning mode to figure out what was next, what I needed to plan ahead for).
Our lifestyle makes it very difficult to stay in the present moment.
There are a lot of generous people out there willing to come together in difficult times.
Our society likes keeping busy and is very averse to being still and having “down time”.
It’s an interesting experience when you are in the middle of a crowded supermarket with empty shelves and you are forced to think about what food I would need to feed my family … what food do we really need to nourish ourselves … how much of what I buy is unnecessary.
My theme of this time is:
Balance: finding the “just right” amount of everything - nutrition/treats, routine/spontanity, tidyness/free, family time/alone time, productivity/rest. I don’t need to have such tight control of everything. If they watch too much TV … they are okay. If they have too much sugar … they are okay. If they stay up too late … they are okay. If we miss an assignment … we are okay. As long as they are loved it all works out. We can always course correct and adjust so there is more balance. Sometimes it's okay to be out of balance and give ourselves compassion.
I realized that we have so many natural local places to source our food and it is important to support our local farmers.
When you strip all the noise away all that’s left is what really matters
Sports activites - exercise not competition/medals/trophies/winning
It is also interesting to walk around and see older siblings playing with younger siblings (where they probably would’ve been away from home with friends) … to see fathers throwing a football with their son (where they probably would’ve been at a scheduled activity).
I realized that I don’t want to return to feeling guilty if I’m not productive or if we haven’t “done” something that day. I want it to still be okay to go slow, rest, just be together, read, play games, have outdoor time.
I realized that most of my (our) decisions are based on what others will think… way more than I was even aware. For example, if my kiddos pants are too short, if the outfit matches, if my daughter’s hair is brushed/styled.
I recognized that most of my anxiety comes from time pressure. When the time pressure is applied almost all tasks become “work” or “overwhleming”.
How about you?? What have you noticed? Are there any lessons you have taken in?