Paying Attention
Dear friends,
Hello! Greetings on this last day of summer. I hope you are well!
It’s been a little over a year since I wrote to you, and so much has happened in the world collectively and in my life personally. I have missed connecting with you and have also been aware of my need to step back from usual life and just be quiet and still as in a cocoon. There are reasons for cocoons. Thank you for your emails. As some of you know, my beloved yet distant father passed away, deep into the pandemic yet not of Covid but of a sudden, unexpected stroke and heart attack at the end of August 2020. My world had been rocked by Covid, and then really shook me to my depths with his passing.
Everything in my world seemed to change all at once, as I know has been so many people’s experience as well, in different ways but leaving us all pretty much CHANGED.
The transformation process that I have been immersed in for a year (and still am) has been profound….a reckoning that has blessed me with many gifts as well as the pain. Without going into all the details right now, I also lost my 18+year massage position at Smugglers’ Notch Resort due to the Mountain Massage Center not opening up for 2 summers now since Covid. I could have found a safe way to practice massage out of my house, but my health was already compromised after contracting the virus back in February 2020, before we all really knew what it was happening. My energy level plummeted, brain fog enveloped my head, and I found myself uncharacteristically intolerant of even doing yoga. Even restorative yoga.
When beings, human or animal or plant, are faced with immense change, it is natural to pull in, find comfort, and hunker down for a time. During this time, the biggest gift has been paying attention to the smallest details of my life, after so much has been stripped away….and realizing how precious they are—the colors in the sky at sunrise, the smiles of my granddaughters, the flower in the grass, the smell of Vermont air in full harvest-time, the stone laying silent in the road. Never before have I felt like I’ve lost everything—my health, my parents, my vocation, my strength, my youth….and yet have discovered the truth of what really matters.
Many people say this, that in times of change and crisis, that stripped bare, the things that really matter become so clear. This world is so abundant and beautiful, our people we love are so dear, this life we have in this amazing human form is really a gift.
Realizing this, I would like to offer what has helped me to not only survive but thrive during these unprecedented times. I’m now enrolled as a part of a study by pulmonologists at the University of Vermont on the effects and treatment of “Long Covid”, and along with my self-care knowledge and amazing mentors, there is so much to discover and remember these days!
I’ll continue to connect with you to go into each of the facets that have brought to me a sense of being truly alive and able to live a vibrant life, as I take care of my body, mind and spirit—through aging gracefully, recovering my energy, and living a soulful life—which applies to all bodies, at any age. Please join me in paying attention. I believe as each of us human beings find health and meaning, we naturally imbue these blessings to all other beings around us—collectively called our world, our entire planet of life, those we love and don’t even know.
May you be healthy and find comfort. May all beings live in safety, health and happiness.
Big hugs, take care and do all the cosy things as the air turns cooler 🙂
Love, Lizabeth