5 Minutes

I have been filling my days with doing laundry, dog-walking, grocery-shopping, cleaning, deleting emails, listening to books on Audible and cooking. Nights are filled with Netflix et al. and reading. Most of the daily above are essential, things-we-have-to-do-to-survive activities. Goddess forbid I should try to get in excellent physical condition or accomplish something like organizing a closet. That seems to be the frame of mind I’ve been in without realizing it. Just get through it. Do what I have to do to be safe and get through it. The minutes, hours and days just slide into one another. All looking basically the same. We are so fortunate to not have lost income. I do realize how incredibly lucky that is. But still all I think is: when will it be over, will it ever be over, when will I see my children and grandchildren again, my family, my friends. When. When. When?

My extraordinary daughter reminded me of something the other day. She reminded me that none of those activities, while essential, do not feed the soul. (Well, maybe reading.) She had read somewhere or heard that it was important to try to take just five minutes a day to do something that enriches. That feeds the soul. That expresses your creativity. How long had it been since I had done that? Except for this blog, a long, long time. It just seemed too overwhelming to try to take something on at this time. If I’m honest I felt that way before the pandemic. It felt like diving into the wave of a tsunami. But five minutes. I could do that. Anyone can do that, right? The parameters were easy. Not diving just wading for a bit.

I wrote a blog a long time ago about just showing up. That’s the same concept. Just show up. Five minutes. I can do that. My daughter is the only one who never lets me forget my creativity. She never lets me coast. She is the only one who asks. For that, I am so grateful. She is the pebble in my shoe. My extraordinary son reminds me to not let my physical being deteriorate. Both are necessary. One feeds the other. Maybe I will manage to do something to make them proud.