How Did You Use Your Time?

Dear Reader:

Have you considered (when all is said and done…and all the slogans about staying home have disappeared from the media and our culture with the final disappearance of the coronavirus)…what you will say was your greatest accomplishment during this gift of time?

Even though for many people…being urged to stay-at-home while millions of businesses…especially small ones, went out of business might not seem like a gift…we still did, however, have something so many of us might have only dreamed about..the essence of time.

The word “essence” is a word with an abstract meaning…like “the intrinsic nature of something“…but we could substitute other words like “soul” “spirit” or even “lifeline.” In essence…did we use our gifts, talents, or passions to connect with others so no one would feel alone/single; but instead alone/together?

Even though I am blessed to be surrounded by family and friends…single people, especially retired single people, really did have a step up on acclimating to stay-at-home and social distancing directives….we live a good part of our lives that way already.

My wonderful, kooky neighbor, Vickie, has laughed and mentioned several times that these viral “restrictions” on mobility (that have unglued some people) haven’t made a dent in her life. She has told me repeatedly that nothing has really changed for her (in her daily life) during this coronavirus side trip. No diversion for Vickie. She is just staying the course…her regular course! 🙂

So I ordered her a sticker that came yesterday…and will take some food treats over with it to surprise her this weekend. She will get a chuckle out of it .

*When I came across the post title painting…I thought it answered the time question for me….flowers/butterflies symbolic of my garden…with a book symbolic of reading and/or writing personal thoughts about this unusual and unexpected adventure for all of us.

“For all of us”…isn’t that mind-boggling? Something comes along that can change time and culture throughout towns, cities, states, countries, and continents… And what is the “cure” (since there is no medical one)….home and time.

Certainly first responders, who didn’t get the gift of time, will remember this coronavirus period in history as more of a blur than anything else…meeting themselves coming and going while working the front-lines of the pandemic. What heroes they were and continue to be!

But for the vast majority of us…being a hero meant and continues to mean doing what we all need to do to slow down and hopefully stop the transmission of this potentially deadly virus…COVID19…Stay home and social distance with others…wear masks when this isn’t possible.

I fell into my own daily rhythm early on…watering, checking the garden for weeds or insects, planting new additions…all this in the morning. Eating lunch and then gazing out the window at ‘Sammy the Cardinal’ and other birds snacking on the bird feeders while I mentally search for the perfect topic for the day’s blog post.

I give myself the gift of time to reflect on conversations (talk shows, phone calls, etc.) that might prompt a post or lines from a book I am reading or from a poem that ignite some neuron charging up a thought worth pursuing.

By mid-afternoon I am either reading, working on a home project, cooking, or napping…loving interruptions to receive friends stopping by for a quick greeting or a phone call…the best alone/together time. The evenings are laid back for reflections on the closing day and anticipated ideas for the next new day.

Let us hope that we will be able to say one day we did our part to accelerate the disappearance of an invisible enemy who showed no mercy or compassion to the victims it attacked…from the very young to the very old.

Hopefully many people will be able to say they looked in on and after neighbors and friends who needed a little bit of extra help during the quarantine…and/or provided entertainment or flowers, meals or simply social communication.

We Ya’s have been blessed to hear a song from Libby each day…as she plays the piano for us…some melodies that were popular when we were all together at college, favorite hymns. etc….her playing provides a special connection reassuring us all that our friendship still abounds and one day we will all physically be back together again. Libby provides hope.