Sending Hugs from Our Home

The Uncertainty of a Pandemic

We are now weeks into social distancing here in Minnesota. How are you holding up? I don’t know where your heads and hearts have been these past few weeks. Mine have been in a weird place.

I know many of us are struggling to understand how we’re feeling. And that these feelings can shift daily, or hourly. 

On the few days my anxiety has spiked from the uncertainty of it all, it has felt similar to the time I discovered my true fear of open water in Australia, when I swam against the current from a shark feeding demonstration towards our anchored boat, and swallowed so much saltwater my throat felt scratchy for days.

A friend explained it as being on an unfinished hike in a forest you’ve never been through, where the threat of poison ivy lurks.

In a recent article published by The Harvard Business Review, the author Scott Berinato is calling it grief. “If we can name it, perhaps we can manage it,” he writes.

Here’s what I do know. I am grateful that my friends and family are back from their travels and healthy. I am grateful for my home and the company I keep. I’ve fallen into a deeper sort of love for our house, though its flaws are speaking up more, and I can’t as easily drown out the noise by leaving and forgetting they exist.

We can all do our part in this. To stay home, pause, and reflect a bit. To learn how to show up for the people we love, through distance and in ways we may not have been challenged to do so before. We all need to do our part to clear away the fear from our hearts, so compassion can fit.

I know these coming days and weeks will bring more answers. My heart is hurting from all the loss we’ve already seen. My heart is with all of those on the front line, who I know are dealing with internal battles at depths I can only imagine.

As the impact of the coronavirus intensifies and the world pauses, know I’m sending love, light and hugs to you from across the pond. I hope you’re finding your version of peace in this time.