[I know that this post is relatively brief, but without work to do or places to go, there’s really not much going on in the life of this YAV at the moment.]
Yesterday, I sat outside and attempted to read my book. I say “attempted” because I don’t know how long I was actually outside but I definitely could have read more than two pages… Instead of focusing on the words in front of me, I found myself looking up toward the sky, soaking in the sunlight, and enjoying the warm day. It was calm, peaceful, something that living with dogs can make hard to achieve. Birds were singing and the neighbor’s goats bleating. I fell into the lull of the sounds of the world around me and simply sat.
That’s what I am doing with my unexpected free time. Being present. Or at least I’m trying to be present more often. The siren song of my Switch can be hard to ignore when there is nothing pressing needing to be done. I think I’ve been talking on the phone more now than in the entirety of my life. I’m playing cards online with my mother and her friends, video chatting as we play. I’m texting (yes, I know that most people don’t count that as talking) more with my friends than I have since moving out to Montana. But I am also making time to be creative. Diving back into practicing the piano, spending an hour or more a day making the hammers and strings sing. I’m singing to myself and the dogs about random things. (The other day I sang an ode to my last soda which was cruelly, and thoroughly, licked by one of the dogs.) I’m dancing…. Well I guess I should say I have Zumba for the Switch and am trying to dance but unlike the dance instructor, my hips are not independent from my body. I’m sketching, painting, coloring, puzzling, ukeleleing… I’m trying to occupy myself with fun during the time I should be at the nursing home or the Villa or the school.
I am exceedingly grateful for the community in which I live. Of anywhere I could be sheltering in place, Montana is probably one of the best options. Social distancing is easy when the population density is pretty low. I can go to the grocery store and there will probably never be more than 6 people shopping or working, usually I am one of maybe two shoppers when I am there. Last week, I saw people coming together to unload the food truck at the pantry and the fresh fruit that would have gone to waste was given to the school for the take home meals. The kindness and community of this town are palpable during this time of unprecedented crisis and I am lucky enough to be here.
I know that this is a scary time for many people. Take a moment or two for yourself. Know that this will end and though the world will be different on the other side of this, the world will still be here. Do what you enjoy. Finish that blanket you started knitting years ago. Do a puzzle. Take a nap. Do whatever it is that brings you joy. Reconnect, virtually, with friends. Call you parents or grandparents or siblings or cousins. Foster a shelter animal. Remember that there is no need to be the next Tchaikovsky, Rembrandt, Andrew Lloyd Weber, J.K. Rowling, or James Patterson. This is a time to just be you and that is totally okay.