It's ironic, but in the midst of this global pandemic, I'm finding more community and connection than I have in a long time.
Because life has changed so drastically for everyone at the same time, it feels natural to drop an email to friends I haven't talked with in years, just to see how they're doing. It feels right to circle back on that DM, to pick up the phone, to text not just for information but for ... fun? (OK that's still not happening much, but I'm dreaming big.)
There are a couple of groups that have picked up again after years of being out of touch, or have shifted from in-person to Facebook and Zoom. And I'm making a point to prioritize them in a way I just hadn't or truly couldn't before.
And here's the most interesting part for me: I've rediscovered how much I love learning and how much I REALLY love connecting with people in the course of learning. So I've been exploring new classes and groups. Among the ones I have joined:
Luvvie Ajayi's Do Better Life at LuvvNation.com (post on that coming up soon)
the beautiful magical ReSpark course
a variety of LinkedIn Learning courses
a variety of Outwild webinars
a meditation course on the free Insight timer app
And probably will end up with the Masterclass membership Facebook ads keep pushing at me. This is all a much better use of money than, say, gasoline had been.
But I have to clarify-- even though quarantine began with a rush of LET'S DO THIS energy, some days have been really hard. Even though I've been practicing with that Insight timer app, most days I haven't felt totally centered.
That's why today's Outwild webinar featuring Susie Moore was just the sunshine I needed. I was in that "hello darkness, my old friend" place; just logging in and seeing the warm lovely people of this community cheered me up.
Susie led a discussion on facing fears and uncertainty with confidence, which boiled down to being comfortable with the discomfort of not knowing. We may not know the future, we may not be able to predict how someone will react to the things we want to do, we may not be able to control every outcome. But we can still move forward anyway.
A good reminder for a Thursday evening in the COVID19 era, when I might have spent another evening inside.
I shut my laptop, put on my mask, and went for a long walk.