May 2020 Blog - Patience

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Even as the word patience comes to me as the theme for this month I can feel myself push against it. For those of us living in NY on May 1st we will be entering our 8th week (or 2 months) under a COVID State of Emergency and if the plan holds then the Governor’s NY ON PAUSE order which started 3/22/20 will end on 5/15/20 in phases by region.    But what then?

I find myself starting to become weary of all the trite words that are supposed to help us cope.  “This too shall pass; We will get through this; Now more than ever; Stay Positive, Stay Well”.  The “Now more than ever”is particularly annoying to me. I am not sure why except I see it in ads everywhere.

There is no instruction manual on how to feel at a time like this.  This is so stressful for everyone. Each person is having their own unique experience of COVID – whether we are sheltering in place, working from home or out the in the world every day as an essential service working harder than ever before. Everything feels as if we are in an alternative universe like a video game or a bad movie where we are waiting for it to end so we can return to life as we knew it.  But each day that passes, I am beginning to understand that life as we knew it will not be returning anytime soon, if ever.   

That is a hard thing for a person to process.  The strangeness of having the world be one experience one day and a completely different experience the next.  To go from a vibrant and healthy economy where there were more jobs than people seeking them to over 15% US unemployment in such a short period of time is – stunning.    Each day can feel like Ground Hog day (the movie) except far more horrible.  To watch the awful heart-wrenching numbers of sick and dying, the ever present charts and graphs - hospitalizations, deaths and new infections by country, state, region.  As I write this, today’s COVID numbers show over 1.4 million cases in the US with over 59,000 deaths but the good news is that the curve has flattened.

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The waves of emotions that flow arrive often at unexpected moments – not necessarily when I am thinking about the heartache and bravery happening in our hospitals and nursing homes.  But also the grief of so many people so many places. Several of my clients are in the healthcare industry.  On the rare moments we can connect, I can feel the energy of exhaustion and grief in them.  I try to help offering words of encouragement, energy healing and reminding them of the deep gratitude so many feel for what they are doing every day.

In searching for a quote for the moment, I came across this from the Tibetan Buddhist Nun, Pema Chodron.  

“How are we going to spend this brief lifetime? Are we going to strengthen our well-perfected ability to struggle against uncertainty or are we going to train in letting go? Are we going to hold on stubbornly to ‘I am like this and you are like that’?  Or are we going to move beyond the narrow mind? Could we start to train as a warrior, aspiring to reconnect with the natural flexibility of our being and to help others do the same? If we start to move in this direction, limitless possibilities will begin to open up”.  Pema Chodron

There are times during these past few weeks that I have allowed myself to reminisce of what used to be simple pleasures like visiting with our family and friends, eating out at our favorite restaurant, experiencing live music or sports, going to a Broadway play, visiting the beach or mountains or really travelling anywhere.  More profound for me is the longing I feel for bodywork and touch.  But there is no massage, no reflexology, and no therapeutic touch.   At least not yet. Will these “simple pleasures” return? I do not know but I remain hopeful.  I cannot bear to think of a world where people cannot freely gather to celebrate, touch, grieve or pray together.  That is what America is all about or at least it used to be.  

Over the past few weeks, I have been in contact with several old acquaintances who own small businesses.  One runs a gym, another a restaurant, another an educational consulting firm.  Each of them has put everything into their businesses.  Their passion, blood, sweat, tears, money, and love, only to see it literally disappear in one day.  Like so many small business owners they have had to let their staff go.  Like all of us, they now sit in a vast ocean of the unknown waiting for what the new normal will look like. But here is the amazing part – they aren’t just waiting.  Each of them have pivoted – almost instantly to serving during our COVID crisis.  The restaurant owner is serving meals to the unemployed (including his own staff) and supplying local food pantries, the gym owner has offered his services online at a reduced cost, and the educational consulting firm is now offering virtual services to support educators in their online teaching efforts.  While this is amazing, they each wonder when they can “return” to what used to be.    

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In the meantime, all of us are truly being invited during this time of COVID to connect with a higher vibration.  The vibration of love.    Of what it really means to be connected to each other while we are not able to be physically connected.  To that end I have also pivoted my Rose Healing Center work.  On 3/18/20 we closed our physical location to seeing clients in person.   I did not understand at that time that this “temporary closure” might end by being for months on end but it appears that due to a variety factors including my location in Northern Westchester, NY that hands-on services will be one of the last to return in New York State.     It is my preference to see my clients in person vs. virtually. But like so many business owners, I have had to pivot.  As I type that I cannot help but think of the Friends episode where they are trying to carry the couch upstairs.  So that is what we all are doing – learning to do things differently. PIVOT!

Rose Healing Center is to help (virtual sessions, phone sessions) available at reduced costs if necessary.  Did you remember to download our free guided meditations with the crystal harp?    I am continuing to work on new ways to connect with you all, specifically with my sound healings with the crystal harp.  Finally, bringing it full circle, I would like to remind you all that yes all those trite sayings are true and they do actually offer us hope.

This Too Shall Pass; We will get through this; Stay Positive, Stay Well and perhaps most importantly,

LOVE WINS always.   

Thank you for reading this blog.  I wish you and your loved ones safe passage through this difficult period.  Please take care, stay positive and find time to be in the sunshine breathing fresh air, having fun and smiling. It is challenging operating under the current restrictions; however, I am confident we will get through this, together. Much love and gratitude for our journey together. Rosemary