Earlier this week I found myself mesmorized looking out to the west at the storm raging over the Ben Ohau range here in Twizel. At times, I could see the clear, crisp peaks of the mountain range, and then, nothing, they were completely gone, covered in clouds billowing out cold winds, rain, and snow. If I happened to look southeast out my back door toward the Benmore range, I’d see a sunny, blue and cloud-filled sky. An exceptionally different landscape; not as daunting and ominous. When the Ben Ohau peaks eventually cleared, beautiful white powdered summits were illuminated by the sun’s rays. I thought to myself, "what a metaphor for what is happening right now given the NZ COVID-19 Lockdown". It may feel like there is a storm raging all around us, but through the storm, there can be, will be, clarity, sunshine, and as I mentioned last week, hope. No sooner had I pressed send on the article I wrote last week did I begin to experience my own personal/family challenges created due to the requirement to socially distance and, as they are saying back home in Nova Scotia, “Stay the blazes home”. Most of the week was spent discovering and integrating solutions to help support those involved. This time hasn’t been easy that’s a given, but it can create an opportunity for much needed rest, rest in mind, body, and spirit. Although we may miss the natural rhythm of our days, there can be peace found in the slowing down of the hustle and bustle, the buzz, buzz, buzz of living a fast paced-life. I have found it hard to write a second piece because there is just so much to write about that I had to ask myself, where do I even begin? I am the owner of two small businesses that have temporarily closed. I continue to look for ways to feel productive, to engage, be helpful, feel useful, and to have purpose. But for now, I think maybe, I just need to go with the flow, to rest. Most importantly, to give myself permission to rest. This won’t mean forever, but maybe, just maybe, embrace this as a moment in time to just go with it. To be challenged to give in to the need to be in, what I often describe as the Big C: Control, and practice instead, the small c for allowing the moment to control and simply go with it. A friend shared the following words written by Jeff Foster and I thought it appropriate to further share here with you. Let yourself rest If you’re exhausted, rest. If you don’t feel like starting a new project, don’t. If you don’t feel the urge to make something new, just rest in the beauty of the old, familiar, the known. If you don’t feel like talking, stay silent. If you’re fed up with the news, turn it off. If you want to postpone something until tomorrow, do it. If you want to do nothing, let yourself do nothing today. Feel the fullness of the emptiness, the vastness of the silence, the sheer life in your unproductive moments. Time does not always need to be filled. You are enough, simply in your being.
I offer the suggestion to perhaps practice the “art of letting go” of the big C’s in your life and focus more on the small c’s that may provide more joy, peace, and enlightenment. We are in this together, for however long it may take. I look to the incredible magnitude of the landscape that surrounds us here in the Mackenzie for comfort, assurance, and the knowledge that I, am never really in control, and that’s ok.
Have a blessed and peaceful week.
sharon
Article first published in The Twizel Update, April 15. Edited for this blog. S.Blanchard
Image credits: Julie Johnstone.
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