There is a phrase that has been in my mind constantly for the last three months. This is happening. It comes up when I pump gas with a mask on or plan when to go see my family based on weather so we can hang out in my parents’ driveway. This is happening. It comes up when I think about how long it is going to be until I walk into a movie theater or walk through my sister’s house without touching any railings or surfaces. This is happening. It used to be terrifying. Then it turned into heartbreaking. Now that I am starting to contemplate going back to work in the pandemic it is feeling thought-provoking. This is happening. I’m going to go back to work. I’m going to put needles in people and talk with them and share space with them. That is going to happen. Soon.
The reason the phrase has felt so important is because it allows me to feel the truth without it being okay. It wasn’t okay that I didn’t get to hold my baby nephew until days before his three month birthday. But that is what happened. It isn’t okay that all my patients had to stop their progress overnight because of the spread of COVID-19. But that is what happened. It isn’t okay that today more than 2 million people in the US have tested positive for the virus. But that is what happened. I notice even writing this that my belly kind of gnarls at feeling it all. This is happening. And it is happening all around us.
COVID-19 Learning Moments
I’m not one for seeing the silver linings in circumstances. However I do enjoy seeing the learning moments, redirections and change of perspective that come out of challenging circumstances. The COVID-19 redirect on every aspect of life and the world is so incredibly profound. I feel fundamentally changed since early March. The piece that impresses me the most is how many of the changes came after years of knowing I needed to make those changes. I’m lightening my load since moving into a much smaller apartment. I’m learning how to really clean in preparation for regularly sanitizing my new office. I’m creating a work wardrobe that is comfortable, professional and can handle being washed and dried at high temperatures for sanitizing purposes. I’m contemplating how to deeply and emotionally check in with patients in a profound way that doesn’t include chatting in comfy chairs three feet apart. I’m learning how to do with less. How to take care of it better. How to appreciate it more. How to savor what is still so special.
This is happening. We are days, weeks or perhaps a month away from acupuncture being open for business in Massachusetts. When that happens I have a very intricate set of systems in place that I think will help the most skittish of you feel safe coming back for a treatment. This is happening. It has been tough. It has been dramatically redefining. But the new people you have become are the new citizens of this new world. You are better people than you were in February. Change is never easy and never comfortable. COVID-19 isn’t over. It isn’t gone and won’t be for quite a while. But we can find a way to keep each other safe and be respectful of each other’s needs as we bridge this phase into the next.
Next Steps
Until acupuncture officially opens I am available for 30 minute phone consults and herb/supplement purchases if you have run out of supplies. Or you can meander around the brand new Window of Heaven website. Be gentle with your bombarded nervous systems and your grief. There is still so much of it even though it is summer and strawberries have arrived. Strength to you. Health to you. Kindness and gentleness in great quantities to you. I will see you soon.