Breathe! Really!
Why am I having such a hard time breathing? Not the Corona Breathing issue – the Zen Breathing. It’s hard hitting the Pause button.
I closed my public relations agency exactly three years ago today – 3/31/17 – so I should be adjusted to a relaxed Rhythm of Life. No deadlines. No meetings. No client demands. No staff issues. No crisis. Well, that’s no client crisis – just a global crisis that has now impacted us all.
Now, forced to cocoon and what’s the first thing I do? I create my To Do List with 7 categories. (See my previous post “Keep The Coffee Coming”). I think this qualifies for mild insanity. I should probably Google a resource for TeleTherapy. I’m sure there are many being offered these days.
In my defense, I do include “Breathe” as #6 on my 7 item To Do List.
A Weekend Dedicated to Breathing
Because I’m a Rule-follower, generally speaking, I decided to spend the weekend dedicated to Breathing. I really don’t remember what I did since Breathing is not very exciting or memorable. I can tell you what I didn’t do – I didn’t clean, organize, exercise, create, learn, or basically accomplish a darn thing! I did reach out and Connect (item 5 on the To Do List) with my gal pals. There were numerous phone calls, texts and emails flying through my isolation cube. Connecting, I’ve decided, is a positive source of Breathing. I also watched escapism TV – a Hallmark movie and American Idol.
For the perfect escape to my happy place, I had a re-watch of the YouTube video of Paul McCartney on Carpool Karaoke. It’s a 24-minute delight as McCartney and James Cordon drive through London visiting Penny Lane and other sites that influenced my favorite Beatles songs. The memories are great and the music – sung by McCartney and Cordon – is a treat.
Take A Deep Breath – And Read
At some point on Saturday, in an inspired Breathing moment, I pulled the book long-ignored on my nightstand and spent hours reading. Reading, for me, has always been a guilty pleasure. It’s a passive, self-absorbed activity – minus action or even movement – that interrupts accomplishing all the other things on that To Do List. But, once I begin, I can hear my brain cranking again and I’m traveling new paths, exploring new worlds, finding new truths. For me, a good book is a great adventure.
I’m half-way through The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker, and a Kay P recommendation. This turns out to be a perfect book for our current situation. It awakens the senses to the small things in our lives – sounds, smells, the breeze of a feather floating in the air. Along with Kay, I highly recommend it.
Another book I just finished is Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. A Reese Witherspoon pick, it’s a coming-of-age story set in the marshlands of North Carolina. Like Heartbeats, Crawdads creates a heightened awareness, this time of the flora and fauna here in Florida – a similar ecosystem to North Carolina. My walks with the dogs have become more interesting as I watch the Ospreys guarding their nest like the militia guarding the castle, listen to the birds’ evening songs, and marvel at the feathery red bottlebrush blooming along my path.
Today, looking for favorite books to recommend, I found Anna Quindlen’s Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake, shouting to me from my bookcase. This was a Lynn recommendation several years back but it is still relevant. A memoir, it’s a funny, straightforward truth of a woman going through life. One of the pages I had tabbed when I read this the first time carries the timely advise, Perhaps instead of scaring ourselves we need to surprise ourselves every day. We are, after all, always a work in progress.” I love that! Think Candles deserves a re-read.
So what are you reading as you enter your April cocoon? Share you picks with us and remember to Breathe and to surprise yourself every day. Life is always a work in progress.