Today marks the 2nd week of CFNE being closed to avoid the spread of COVID-19, and I am still being surprised at the many phases we’ve gone through so far. All of these phases have been so unique, too. Some as a parent of young children, some of older ones. Some as parents with Ben, and some as a parent as a stay-at-home mother. Some as an owner of a small business, some as a member of the community at that small business. And, some as a home body that finds a very important safety only in the security and comfort of my own home and family, some as a social butterfly that finds peace in the chaos and diversity I get from my different social outlets.
At least for me, just when I think the “honeymoon phase” of social distancing is over, a new branch of it sprouts and it all begins again.
A couple of weeks ago, it was sort of nice to sleep in a little, not make lunches and chase kids around the house to make the bus on time, and spend all day in my pajamas if I felt like it. While part of me was devastated for Maya that her first lacrosse season ended prematurely and that it felt like she was being ripped away from her family of friends at college, I was selfishly excited to have her physically back in my daily life again. And, I will admit, that I even though I’m the type of person that steers clear of any sort of news platform in an attempt to protect myself from the negative lens of the media, I felt a weird rush of interest every time I heard my phone alert me of a news update.
Almost all of those feelings have settled down, with the exception of loving every extra minute I get to spend with Maya now. But, the rest of them don’t feel as “nice”. I’m starting to truly appreciate how much I thrive on the life I had laid out for myself before this new world that we now live in.
Having said that, I’m also starting to understand that there is a very nice in-between world that I believe exists where I can salvage some of my routine and schedule, while not having to feel so required to keep up with the sort of pace that comes along with the life I knew before.
And, the beauty I believe can be found in the dust after all of this does settle…which it will…is that that in-between world may end up being my new, more beautiful world that will help me find even more joy in the relationships with my children, my family, my friends, my neighbors, my co-workers, my CFNE community…and, my SELF.