Silver Linings

Let’s just say things haven’t always worked out for me. I mean, luck has often been on my side, but sometimes … it just wasn’t. And those moments, when things didn’t turn out as intended, taught me to look for the upside in difficult situations. Intuitively, I recognized that no matter how bad things seemed they could always be worse. So much so that seeking and finding silver linings has become sort of a superpower of mine.                                                      

This pandemic has been challenging, to different degrees, for everyone. We are all sharing a collective experience. And I actually feel incredibly fortunate. I am able to work from home and am currently employed. No one in my family or circle of friends has contracted the virus. But, like most of us, I’ve had good days and struggled through bad ones. It can feel like the undulating rhythm of waves of the ocean. One day you’re up on top and the next you’re being pulled under.

There have been a whole host of activities I’ve engaged in because of staying home and its requisite slowing down. It’s been beneficial in many ways and has helped me re-calibrate. Up until now this list of pusuits has been swimming around in my head. I’ve decided to commit it to written form.

 Wellness

- Since I don’t have to fly out the door each morning to commute to work I take time getting ready each morning. At first, spending time on myself felt a little indulgent, but it’s become an absolutely essential part of me taking care of me. Even something as simple as hydrating my body. While I've always applied moisturizer, it was always rushed. I take my time now.  And as a result, my skin has never been more soft and supple.

- I’ve further expanded my at home spa to include weekly manicures and pedicures. Usually during virtual happy hour. Who knew I would be competent as a nail technician? I know, me neither.

- And in the early days of the pandemic my first and most necessary coping mechanism were daily walks. After a few weeks my dog was joining me on the first leg of my morning walk. I think it’s become the most exciting part of her day. And it’s good for my health, but just as importantly, it’s good for my head.

Domestic Life

- In the time that I’ve had children I’ve never been more on top of my laundry game. I’m talking all of it – washed, folded, AND put away. You know, the perfect trifecta.

 - I’ve also mastered the art of the running grocery list. Venturing out just once a week to the grocery store for provisions has helped discipline me. We now have a perpetual list and jot down items on it as needed. The days of impulsive trips to the grocery store multiple times a week are long gone.

- Thanks to planning our shopping I’ve also been cooking more at home and, bonus; we’ve been eating a more nutrient-rich diet ever since. It’s a direct result of having the time, or more accurately, making the time, to plan and meal prep.

- I’m cultivating flowers, both in the earth and pots. Granted, I’ve done this most of my adult life, but thanks to the brutal sun of Texas and my harried life I typically abandon the required watering regimen by August. Since I’ll be sticking around the home front for the foreseeable future, if I was a betting woman … and I am … I’d wager that flora will still be alive come fall. Wanna place a bet?

- And we’ve started a family vegetable garden to nurture our own produce. And Francisco, as Mateo describes his brother, “he’s an indoor kid,” has taken to helping water it. It’s a miracle.

Leisure Time

- I’ve never been good at the art of relaxation, chilling out, sitting back in the cut, or any other euphemism for “me time”. I’ve often felt like there was something else I should be doing, something more important that was pulling me. And whatever that thing was didn’t matter; it needed my time, my energy, and my focus more. The pandemic has helped me to evolve. I’ve learned to schedule in periods of time to sit back on the patio, worship the sun, and enjoy a book. And get lost in all of it. It’s taken me forever, but I think I’m beginning to learn to relax.

 - Weekly day trips started early in the pandemic for us. I needed to get out of the house and something to look forward to with my boys after a week full of work and home school. We ventured a little out of our locality with a keen interest for exploration that didn’t include encounters with people in close proximity. They’ve become a welcome opportunity for family photo shoots, capturing the scenery, and flexing my creative muscle.

 - And without a doubt, one of my most favorite silver linings has been re-discovering my love for music. There isn’t a day that goes by that I am not immersed in music while I am home at all hours of the day. It could be a vocalist, a rock band, a musical soundtrack. It doesn’t matter. I listen to it over and over again until I determine that I’ve fully absorbed it and pretty much played the hell out of it. Then I move onto the next musician or soundtrack I’ll obsess over. It totally boosts my spirits.

There are still times when I need to vent, cry even, or in general, just express my agita to get it out. But time and again I always come back to looking for the light. Placing positive energy in something I have a modicum of control over always brings me back to a place of hope.