What the world needs now...
I wish I would have brought this road sign with me from Ireland a few years ago. I want to put it on every corner in Amsterdam…
This website was born in the midst of a pandemic when the world stood literally still for a while. Something we never thought was possible. No more traveling, no more parties, no more social life- and even no more work for many of us.
And of course, there also was immense fear and suffering.
People got awfully sick, people died under horrible and sad circumstances, and many businesses were and will be destroyed or heavily damaged by the consequences of this virus. I’m very aware of that side of the coin and I don’t want to play it down in any way.
But did you also notice how many people actually enjoyed this drastic change?
How many people seemed relieved from a heavy burden, finally ‘allowed’ to take it slow for a while, finally able to breathe? Maybe this shocked me even more than the direct causes of the virus. What does that say about us, about this world? About the way we lived our lives before COVID 19? It makes me sad to realize how little we obviously respected our deepest needs and wishes, how unhealthy and disconnected we actually were.
SLOWer, please!!!
Today I read an article about this; the author claimed that only those with the financial security of a good and steady job were able to enjoy the slowing down, that it was a rich people’s pleasure to take it a bit more easy these days.
I don’t agree with her at all. For myself and many of my friends and colleagues, this time is a complete financial disaster and our future is totally insecure.
But that doesn’t mean we didn’t feel a lot better in a world that was so much more quiet, so much slower, where there was no need to hurry anymore. During these crazy weeks, I naturally found a daily rhythm that makes so much more sense for me than how I lived before. Interestingly enough, I get up much more early now, even though I didn’t ‘have to’ do anything for quite a while (…and even though I really LOVE to sleep).
I do a long yoga practice every morning, the full package, breathing, chanting, Yin and Yang, taking really good care of my body and mind. I eat more healthy than before, taking more time to prepare good meals – even with a much smaller budget. I spend a lot of quality time with the husband and the dogs, we go for long walks in the park, talking about what moves our hearts.
And –maybe the biggest surprise for me- I’m much more productive than in ‘normal’ times. It seems that when I’m under less pressure, I get much more work done and it feels totally natural and organic to do so. For example, if you would have told me half a year ago that I would make this website, I would have reacted with a very tired smile, ya right. And now it’s there, it just came naturally, step by step.
Of course, there are also moments of fear and insecurity, where everything I do seems completely useless and absurd. But I made it a daily practice to bring my mind back on track, to trust and to connect with life, with its natural flow. It’s a choice to do so, negativity and fear are never far away.
And it’s also a choice to keep listening to your deepest needs and wishes when the world goes back to ‘normal’. To no longer think in impossibilities but to realize that we are what we think, we are creating our lives, we are creating this world, all of us together.
And what this world needs now, if you ask me (and Mr. Burt Bacharach), is Yin sweet Yin!
