“There’s no sense of normalcy!” my friend complains to me over the phone. None of us wants to host this little coronavirus bugger so we’re voluntarily (for the most part) staying home. Our routines and lives have been upended.  We all find ourselves in the same boat.  

Right from the start, I suspect our confinement could go on for quite a while.  This prompts me to immediately create a new normal in my life.  As I contemplate my options, I consider that this “forced pause” might hold within it, a potential opportunity.  

I’m not trying to be Pollyanna.  I’m simply not interested in becoming depressed.  My solution is to look for something that I can control amidst a situation where there appears to be very little that I can.  I don’t have to sit with this idea for long before I find something.  It could almost be seen as …dare I whisper it?  A gift?

I typically fill my days to the brim with activities, some necessary, and some mere unexamined habits.  I’ve spent too much of my life in a race against time.  Now that I have so much of it on my hands, I ask myself, “What are those things I always think about doing but never have the time for?”  I decide to create a list, keeping it handy, so I can add things as they pop into my mind:

~Removing wallpaper from the bathroom walls.
~Learning to speak Spanish.
~Learning to draw cartoon characters.
~Contact friends I haven’t been in touch with for a while.
~Reading the multitude of books on my shelves.
~Peruse home decorating books/websites.
~Doing a deep clean of my house. (last for a reason!)

This period of suspended activity provides me with some unexpected, valuable time to tap into my creativity and to dive into unexplored territories.  

I can either spend this time of uncertainty bombarding myself with a variety of “what-if” scenarios or I can release the anxiety by occupying myself with much more pleasurable pursuits.  I choose the latter!

~Zanne
InSearchOfAuthenticity.com
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