I needed some comforting today so I crossed the tracks back to my driftwood bench. Following the advice of a friend, I invited all the parts of me to show up and be heard – welcomed even – not edited.
Pissed-off-Patty was the first to arrive. “I’m angry”, she said. “Why should I have to suffer for the sake of such a small percent of the population getting sick and crossing over from COVID-19? Did world governments care when a much larger population was – and still is – starving to death? Did they stop their wars because people were dying? Did we let them shut down stores, restaurants and the theater to stop AIDS or Ebola? So why now?
“Why is Peru, for example, willing to ground tourism to a halt – an industry that literally feeds and clothes most of the Cusco population – in the name of protecting people from a virus which to date has killed 3 in the province with a population of almost 1 million? Doesn’t that seem reckless?”
When Patty paused to take a breath, Bored-Betty spoke up: “I’m restless and longing for more variety in life than ‘where shall I ride my bike today’ and ‘what are we having for dinner’. I haven’t had a face to face human conversation with anyone besides Dennis and Sharon in 32 days!”
We all had a big laugh because just as Betty said that, a big black SUV pulled up and the female driver asked me if this furniture I was sitting on, was for sale. It wasn’t the most stimulating conversation because neither of us knew who owned these amazing pieces of functional art or why they are here next to the railroad tracks but I had to appreciate Spirit’s sense of humor that hushed Betty right up.
Me? I’m doing my best to focus on the positive and to be grateful for the downtime. But I long for more, for something else, something better. “Follow your Passion” advised an inspirational post on Facebook. My passion is travel and in-person workshops and going to new locations on the globe where I’ve yet to visit.
I have tickets in June for travel to Romania where I was meant to co-teach a Solstice workshop, then onward to Prague where I have an AirBnB apartment for a week while I attend a Creativity Workshop. No tickets or reservations after that but pre-planned intentions for visiting St. Petersburg, Russia and Latvia.
Pissy Patty is pissed because more likely than not, those plans will be cancelled – not by me who would still be very happy to go – but by systems whose thinking does not seem logical to me.
I’d like to offer an uplifting ending for this missive but Motivational-Mary didn’t feel like coming to tea today. Please stay tuned ‘til tomorrow because even if Betty doesn’t agree, every day is a new adventure.
April 17, 2020