Are the walls closing in? It's time to create some space


Welcome to Canadian Thanksgiving, 2020 edition. Do you feel like the walls are closing in? 

We're experiencing the last few weeks when reasonable people expect to sit outside and enjoy it. And we're facing our first COVID winter, a time when gathering outside is probably unpleasant and gathering inside is either forbidden or risky. Our kids are still in school, but they are confined to their desks for most of the day, their worlds reduced to a few square feet of not-very-comfortable territory. It's tough in here. It's tight and getting tighter.

So what can you do? You have access to three powerful tools for creating space. 
  • The first is movement. If you can, get outside and walk. The weather doesn't matter so much when your muscles are warm and working. The skies are always higher than the ceilings, and you'll see people or animals that are sharing your world and moving with you. 
  • The second is connection. I know that a phone call or video call is not as good as holding a hand or giving a hug. But if you think about it, you almost certainly have memories of calls that felt closer, more connection than conversations you had in the same room. Touch is important, but so focused attention, and a voice that reaches out just to us. 
  • The third is imagination. You have one, even if you think it might be a little rusty. When you watch tv, you escape a little. When you read a good book, the walls push back for longer. When you close your eyes, you can be anyplace you have ever loved. There are no edges, no pages, no limits except your willingness to revisit a time when you felt free and at home in a big, big world.
You are not running out of time and the walls are not closing in. You are reaching the limits of the strategy you have been using to create time and space. It's just time to try a new strategy.



 

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