What Matters in 2020
At the rare chance to truly sit down with my thoughts for a moment I chose to assess how this month (March 2020- April 2020) has affected my perspective on life. I’ve had the great privilege and luxury of being safe and healthy, thus making me act diligently to preserve those virtues and taking each day as it comes. This means I’m not allowing overwhelming thoughts to consume me. I’ll acknowledge the enormity of what is happening globally in every way and that I am absolutely concerned about planetary health, the future of how polluted air will affect our health, my husband losing his job or what is going to happen at retirement, but during this fragile time those conundrums are too weighty to contemplate and add to the fragility of emotions right now. It is important to keep some balance, nudging higher on the positive side for good measure. To do this, I wanted to uncover the roots of what is important in life, to me. So I’ve been focusing more small-scale on maintaining an everyday work schedule, a simple life of good sleep, nourishing food, happiness, grocery needs and how I am going to help the world get healthier. OK, the last one is large-scale, but I can’t fight it, so I accept it.
“What do I want and need in this life?”, I asked.
Here’s what my fingers recorded from my brain.
There really is not a worldly possession that I actually ‘want’ beyond necessities or a frivolous food like black cocoa or lambrusco vinegar. The things that I “want” aren’t things at all. They are concepts. They are experiences. They are; awakenings, alterations, appreciation, authenticity, amazement, art, balance, behavioral enhancements, beauty, bravery, breath, calmness, caring, creativity, color, comfort, contentment, compassion, cheer, changes, depth, desire, dance, devotion, excitement, energy, empathy, endearment, experience, eagerness, enthusiasm, education, exercise, family, fun, freedom, fluidity, friendship, goodness, gratefulness, grace, guidance, happiness, healthfulness, humor, humility, heart, inspiration, imagination, integrity, intrigue, interest, ingenuity, identity, importance, joy, kindness, knowledge, love, lessons, learning, likeness, laughter, likability, life, maturity, meaning, music, melody, moments, memories, niceness, nature, nurturing, nourishment, nothing, optimism, originality, outstanding, output, patience, purpose, pride, positivity, perspective, practicality, pleasure, purity, plans, peace, pursuit, quality, quiet, rest, relaxation, resourcefulness, recognition, radiance, reminders, regard, safety, simplicity, support, strength, splendor, sounds, soul, sharing, sense, truth, tenderness, time, talent, taste, thoughtfulness, unity, understanding, uniqueness, vivacity, vigor, vision, wisdom, wonderment, wellness, zeal, zest.
This exercise provided me with many items listed. Have a wonderful day.
