Corona wisdom

I dislike spiders. I saw a small spider crawling at my fire place this week. Strangely, I find myself experiencing a sense of joy when I saw this spider. Since I live by myself, the spider is now the most intimate living thing under my roof besides my plants.

A pest has become a pet in the corona world. It is funny how many realities are different post corona.

When I revisited the give glow newsletter from January, I was surprised to see that I wrote about my intention to practice beginner’s mind in 2020, and ended the newsletter with:

“And a miracle that happens every moment of every day is that I’m breathing, seemingly effortlessly.”

It’s as if I was somehow tapping into intuitive knowing of what’s to come. How important it is to be grateful for simple things like an easy breath, and the importance of beginner’s mind to help me journey through this new reality.

Putting beginner’s mind to practice, I ask myself: If I were born today and came into this world, how would I feel?

I realize my answer is: the grief that I feel would be lifted. I won’t be feeling any loss because there is no concept of pre-corona or what’s normal. I would find this world to be beautiful as it is.

I learned from the TV series Downton Abbey that people in the old days avoided shaking hands, touching or hugging one another because of germs and diseases. Keeping to themselves was normal and they did not feel they miss out on physical contact.

I’m not saying grieving loss is unnecessary. Grieving is a necessary step to letting go and moving on. What I am saying is:

• Can I eliminate waiting for things to get back to normal from my vocabulary?

• Can I let go of all the grief and replace grieving the past with the excitement of a new adventure?

• How can I best embrace the present and see it with beginner’s mind?

I hear that Corona is re-emerging in Asian cities and local governments are now anticipating restrictions to be in place through the rest of this year. Regardless of whether we ever find a vaccine or contain the virus, we can make every moment count by living with joy regardless of what’s happening externally.

My tip for mindful practice: Let go of expectations. Learn to love what is.

Love,

Jennie