I’m midway through my fifth week of sheltering in place. On one level, it seems like forever. I was in a Zoom meeting with a non-profit board that I’m on yesterday, and the executive director pointed out that we met in person last month, and that Covid-19 was in the news, but it wasn’t even an agenda item. That meeting feels like it was a year ago, and the organization’s response to the crisis dominated our discussion yesterday.
On another level, though, the days go pretty quickly. I can’t say I have a routine. In fact, I’m kind of enjoying not having a regular routine and varying the structure of my days based on how I’m feeling that day. It is often tedious to stay home, but somehow, the days remain full of worthwhile and even pleasurable activity (like working the “Yoga Cats” jigsaw puzzle my mom gave us for Christmas. As you can see above, even the cat got into the act.)
When this pandemic first hit, a lot of folks in both the news media and social media were throwing around the term “apocalypse.” And indeed, many things about this crisis do resemble those apocalyptic novels and films that have been so popular since the new millennium, stories that focus on the end of the world as we know it.
In the past few weeks, two of the thinkers who have influenced me most have given me a new perspective on that word. Writer Parker J. Palmer and journalist Krista Tippett have both talked in podcasts about the Greek origins of the word apocalypse. The Greek word apokaluptein meant to uncover or to reveal. (Thus the English translation title of the last book in the Christian New Testament is Revelations.)
Merriam Webster defines to reveal as “the act or an instance of showing or disclosing something for the first time.” Uncover is defined as “to make known or bring to light.”
I’ve been thinking a lot about what this crisis is revealing to me—about myself and about my community, my nation, and my world. What is it being made known or brought to light? As I recently shared with the participants in one of my recent Friday afternoon check-in calls, I have not yet reached any conclusions about what is being revealed (though I have some ideas), but I have found it so helpful to reframe what is happening to us around that question.
So there’s something to think about while you shelter in place. What is being revealed to you? What is being brought to light? Are there implications for how you want to live and the kind of world you want to live in on the other side of pandemic?
If you have any thoughts on that, I’d love to hear from you in the comments or via email.
Meanwhile here are some resources you might find helpful:
Last week, my alma mater, Maryville College, asked me to make a short video highlighting some strategies on navigating this moment in time. It was my first foray into video. If you missed it on social media, you can watch it here.
A friend shared this lovely illustrated reflection on what we are learning from this experience by Sergio Peçanha.
I also enjoyed writer Courtney Martin’s meditation on unnecessary suffering and necessary meaning.
Oregon’s poet laureate Kim Stafford shared some of the poems he has written while sheltering in place, and they are lovely.
Writer Hala Alyan’s post echoes that theme of discovering what is being revealed to us. She writes, “The pandemic isn’t necessarily creating fears for people. It’s instead serving as a flashlight—illuminating people’s unsteadiest, half-finished parts. It’s showing us where our work remains.”
I enjoyed this virtual tour of sacred spaces from around the world.
And on the practical side, my former colleague psychologist Dr. Marie LePage shared some tips on working from home with the Converse College community. And here is collection of TED talks with tips that will make you better at remote work.
My sister, a child-life specialist, shared this wonderful graphic on how kids’ anxiety about coronavirus can show up and another on types of self-care.
