April 20, 2020 — Greetings to another week! I absolutely love a fresh week. It is a new cycle starting. Cycles are everything. We live by cycles, they are comforting. We can count on them. The moon, the seasons, the calendar, pregnancy, the butterfly. They help guide our steps, walking us through. Like a mother holding our hand.

I feel like I need to take a quick second to clarify my perspective: I’m a suburban mom with 2 teen sons at home, 1 20 year-old son away at college, my busy consultant husband now at home not traveling, and 2 cats. We have 3 small businesses.*

I have heard and read lots of references to living in quarantine being like the rom-com movie Groundhog’s Day. Personal note: that is one of my absolute FAVORITES…partially because my hubby and I had our first date on Groundhog’s Day in 1991:) We saw Mel Gibson’s Hamlet. But later Groundhog’s Day became a date staple.

If you love that movie as much as many of us do, you know that although it’s super funny and seemingly a classic Bill Murray slapstick, it has an AMAZING message. It’s a message of self-improvement. By living the same day over and over and over, he acquired skill after skill and eventually left behind that self-serving persona to become completely renewed. Living and re-living Groundhog Day was his chrysalis. He stayed in it until he was fully developed enough to emerge as that butterfly.

It’s not a big leap to view this time of quarantine as a chrysalis, especially for those of us who are not essential workers defending the front lines for the masses. (THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!!) Although each day feels much the same, (I just love the term “Blursday”) it would be a travesty to not see the positivity of being with your loved ones more than you have in recent past…believe me, I am not saying it is without its challenges!!! But the opportunity here is, and yes, I’ll pointedly and positively use the currently overused term:

UNPRECEDENTED. But in a really GOOD WAY!

When was the last time (over the past month) that you turned down someone’s efforts to connect because you were too BUSY? How many actual PHONE CALLS have you either made or received? How much attention to projects in your house have you been able to give? How many WALKS and neighborly waves have you taken and given? How many online meetings, exercise classes, and happy hour connections have you made, saving gas and hassle? And how much more time have you gotten back because the Mom Taxi is not constantly running??

And my favorite, how much time in the kitchen have you had together with your family? How many more games have you played and movies have you watched? Is your child FINALLY using the basketball hoop? Are you out on the trampoline or ping pong table? How’s your garden growing??

Yes, the house is dirtier than ever (and I’m envious of you that have more effectively mobilized your juvenile workforce than we have), but who cares??

Yes, there are way more dishes, but there seems to be less laundry! And fewer errands. (if you have gone on errands, it is NOT FUN)

Yes, your hair cuts/color and other self-care appointments can’t happen (and I worry deeply about that economic impact for the service industry). But my hair is enjoying the break from chemicals!

But don’t you just feel…FREER in many ways?

I am basking in the previously unimaginable feeling of being untethered from the Freight Train Hamster Wheel of my overly scheduled life that only stopped a few short weeks ago. And hopefully you are enjoying the gifts of my creativity in the form of these blog posts:)

Let me say this: 2020 is NOT a complete “dumpster fire!” …unless we envision specifically burning the things we should have dumped ages ago. (and I am enjoying the diverted attention from the 2020 election, personally)

And, most importantly, I am BREATHING. I’m spending lots of time looking outside (isn’t Spring beautiful??), but really I am looking INWARD. Some days, it’s scarier in there than I’d like, but more often than not, I’m finding strength and positivity.

I want that for you, too.

>>>virtual hugs<<<

Cheers! –ryan:)

PS Thanks for reading. I’m honored, truly, that you would give me the gift of your precious time. I hope you gleaned something useful, thought-provoking, or simply entertaining!