Thank you to everyone on the front lines
Giving thanks to everyone who has been working on the front lines, in health care and other essential services. You’re an integral part of every community in general, and you’ve become the heart of society for the past couple of months. You’re keeping us going, giving life a semblance of normalcy. I look forward to my trips to the supermarket to see familiar faces. It’s good to see people and feel like you’re part of a neighbourhood. People on the front lines of society give communities around the world their spirit, especially these days. Thank you, you’ve been there for us this whole time doing your best to keep as many people as healthy as possible, and the complicated supply chains of essential resources working. Our global compassion is growing during this crisis for everyone, trying our best to keep harmony in our community, and everyone on the foreground has been working so hard to make it happen. It’s sweet seeing the hearts and rainbows around the neighbourhood, pictures in the windows, chalk drawings on the sidewalk, and the 7:30 cheer each evening, colourful ways to show our appreciation. Thank you for being there, we are all lucky to have you. My heart goes out to you, you are working so hard, and hope you are not too exhausted.
Where we're at now
At this point although the physical distancing measures we’ve been practicing for two months remain in place, thankfully here in Toronto and in many parts of the world, we’re beginning the gradual process of opening back up. It was quite a shock seeing seeing society close up like that, and many of us have a whole new appreciation for the liberties of our lives we took for granted. Gratitude and loss may come hand in hand here, sometimes it takes losing something to realize how important it was, and this has a bittersweet way of opening the heart. Society realized how lucky it has been by taking this time away. There are many aspects of normal life we are missing right now, much about our normal lives have changed due to this crisis, and stepping back it’s even more beautiful. We may feel weary that normal isn’t coming back as quickly as we may had anticipated, nostalgic for our freedom and all the wonderful parts of life, perhaps eager to get our hair cut. Just got in from a walk, it’s such a beautiful day today, great to see people out enjoying the long awaited sunshine, flowers everywhere. It was kind of exciting to see more action in the city than there has been in a while. Happy to be able to go to parks again, and looking forward to experiencing more of life’s pleasures soon. Before we know it we’ll be enjoying little parties :)
Staying Grateful
If you’re feeling out of sorts, or down, you’re not alone. After all, we’re just past the shock phase of this pandemic but still in the process, it’s a lot of change in a short period of time, and there’s been a much loss and uncertainty. You may feel a bit lost, grieving your old routines and markers, or even a loved one. However you’re feeling is totally valid and makes sense. Just wanted to share how for me, gratefulness is like a little magic pill that helps me feel better. If I notice myself having more negative feelings and thoughts than usual, I realize I need to balance myself out and get back on the bright side by remembering all the good parts of life I am grateful for. Count your blessings and they will grow, sounds cliche but it works. When we are grateful, we stay hopeful, inspired, and ready for goodness to come to us. Being grateful helps us bringing in more joy to our lives, opens the heart to more blessings and gifts of life.
For now, let’s try to stay grateful for everything in our lives, and appreciate the beauty around us, all that is in our environment, the basics of life we are blessed with. Spending time with loved ones even if by physical distance, connecting with family and friends, and appreciating each other makes us happy. If something makes you smile or laugh, pass it along. If you’re working from home, the ability to do so is a luxury; the clean water to wash our hands, healthy food to eat. We can be grateful for this chance to work on our lives behind the scenes, and make little changes as needed, to prepare to come out of this situation healthy and strong. We can be grateful for having a government that is doing its best to support its citizens, not forcing people to choose between health and money, and that developments are being made daily to help us come through this crisis. We have a lot going for us, and will discover more, as this period of time is opening up a lot of new potentials in individuals and in the world.
What are you grateful for in your life? What is most important to you these days? These thoughts have probably crossed your mind many times lately. What parts of normal life do you miss the most? Make a list and really celebrate when you can do these things again. For me, besides being able to get together with family and friends, and just to name a few, I have a renewed appreciation to see beautiful art in galleries, for my hairdresser, am excited for restaurants to open, to see live music again, and I’m really excited for classes at the Barre studio near my house to start again. Also, it will be nice to be able to try on clothes and feel the fabrics before I buy them. How about you?
Spread the gratefulness vibe and open the heart of society, one thank you at a time, especially to anyone you meet who’s working on the front lines. Stay healthy, xo, V
Photo & video by Virginia
Read more pandemic reflections here.