Self-Care Monday: I'm joining you!

While many of my friends have been posting about being cooped up at home, I've been heading in to work every day. Not this Monday! As COVID-19 numbers rise and scares get closer to home, my workplace has decided to split our branch into two teams. My neighbor Deb's credit union has been doing this since about early/mid March. Team 1 works a week, then stays home a week. It protects the whole branch from having to close up shop if someone on the team gets sick, allowing the other team to step up and handle business as needed. 

I'm on Team 1. The bank decided midweek last week to do the rotating teams thing, and my team finished off working the week. Now, this week lays before me like one of our incredible great lakes. I know there's an end to it, but right now it feels stunningly infinite. I couldn't be more grateful. 

I'm an introvert. I recharge by being alone, by being home, by being cozy and safe. Even if work wasn't more hectic than usual (it is!), all of this emotional chaos of life unfolding right now would leave me still craving the sanctuary of my own home. If the solution to everything was not social distancing, and instead was required socializing? I would not fare nearly as well. 

I have three plans for this gift of a week:

• Have fun developing Magic Ungrounded. I'd say "revising," but I've realized that this process I'm on is much more a diving into and developing than revising what's already there!
• Celebrate Chester's birthday! Janet and I were going to have a pupper birthday party with all his favorite human and a few of his favorite dogs this past Sunday, but obviously that plan got cancelled. This week, we are going to take him hiking in celebration! Where do you think we should go? 
• Be gentle with myself. Diving into Magic Ungrounded is fun. Reading about economics, to me, is fun. As soon as it stops being fun, I'll let myself find something more lovely. Our world is in the midst of a generational trauma. It's okay to just be. 

How are you faring with social distancing? How long have you been either working from home, laid off, or just not going out the way you normally do? What are some things you've discovered help you sink into this moment without losing pieces of your joy?

My habit or intention this month is to Cultivate Richness. It moves beyond my gratitude practice in February, but also includes it. Cultivating Richness means noticing the ordinary things that bring inner peace and gratitude, while also pursuing the things that help grow these feelings. 

Cultivating Richness is keeping my home tidy, going on walks with Chester, feeling the sunshine on my skin, moving my body, snapping and messaging my friends, refining my skills, eating home cooked meals, taking spontaneous naps, crafting interesting cocktails, diving into fictional worlds, snuggling Chester and Peppermint, recognizing the future I want, spending quality laughter time with Janet, checking in on my family, and so much more. 

I am not grateful for COVID-19. But I'm incredibly grateful for this opportunity to slow down, to check in with my heart, and to name the puzzle pieces of reality that help me feel the most full-filled. 

I hope you are staying well and I hope you are discovering little pieces of happiness poking up through the spring soil of your days. Bring on the rain, bring on the sunshine, bring on the early flowers. April is here!