Zooming Into Intense Gratitude

It all started with a carrot - a crunchy, semi-fresh, sweet veggie that had just arrived from a Whole Foods delivery. After several days of attempting to get groceries delivered, I had finally found an open window and grabbed it. That got me thinking about the situation that the world  finds itself in at the moment. 

So many things that used to be easy are harder now.  At times, we have to work for even the simplest things. All of this can lead to frustration, isolation, and anger. Or, assuming that you’re among the very lucky healthy ones, it can take you to a mode of gratitude. That first bite of a craving that I didn’t even realize that I had, led me back to leaning on thankfulness. In choosing to think about how fortunate the well among us are, we can develop a mode that makes it easier to thrive in the new normal.

Digital happy hours via Zoom, a Google Hangout with colleagues talking about life outside of work, intel on which local supermarkets are fully stocked, a family group chat, texting with friends to check in - these are some of the tasks that help me get by. Sure, there’s tons that I miss. I worry about my family across the continent that I can’t get to. I’d like to visit loved ones and give them hugs to cheer them up. I pray every day for the death toll, the suffering, and this scourge to end.

In the quiet moments, within the walls that surround my husband and me and that I call home, I am grateful and more appreciative than ever for blessings big and small that have taken on an outsized significance.

Stay safe and healthy in your mind and environment and be sure to stay in (virtual) touch with the people who mean something to you.