Hitting the Reset Button

With the state of the world as it is, now is the perfect time to hit that reset button. You know, that one that you keep meaning to hit. The one set aside for “maybe tomorrow”, or “some day”. That day is today my friends.

Every day of the past two weeks has been some fashion of a new normal. Sunday, March 8th was Daylight Savings - springing the clocks forward one precious hour. Monday, March 9th was the Full Moon. Every day following, there have been updated news information around the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, updated information on how it spreads, and how to protect your loved ones and yourself through the epidemic. Ireland canceled St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. Many religious leaders have canceled services for the near future. Schools have updated their projections on closures no less than 2 or 3 times across regions. There has also been an abundance of programs, exhibits, and collections made available for online learning and consumption. Just when things started to go dark, we as a people immediately turned to the arts.

Yesterday, March 24, was the New Moon. A natural time to let go of what no longer serves, and to manifest what you want to bring in. Being emersed with all of the recent schedule changes, this is the perfect time to create a new routine that works for you. Many of us have lost our jobs, many are considered essential workers, and many more still are working the front lines. With schools closed and offices allowing remote working privileges, our daily routine has changed drastically. If you’re used to spending an hour (or more) commuting to an office, you’ve now got those 2+ hours back to spend on yourself in other ways. If you’re used to going through a whole beauty routine before heading out the door for the office, you now have that time to decide if that’s what truly brings you joy in the morning. Kids don’t need to go to school, so now everyone can sleep in to a more reasonable hour. You can push the jeans and the underwire bras to the back of the closet, and bring out all of the comfy clothes you love but aren’t quite “work appropriate”.

While it’s important to take what time you can to rest, and re-calibrate in this time of constant change. It is also important that you keep to some fashion of a routine. Routines are helpful for staying grounded, and will help us transition into the new normal that exists only on the other side of this epidemic. With routines, not only do we know what we need to be doing and when, we also know that it’s something within our personal control. The one thing that only changes if we allow it to. Granted, if you’re like me and have children, we know that routines can be more of a guide than a hard and fast rule, but it’s a starting place.

I challenge you to shake things up a bit. Reset all of your alarms, even if all you’re doing is changing the ringtone. Practice some light stretching, or go through a full Sun Salutation, if you have kids - consider including them. Find a space where you can write out one or three things that you’re grateful for, or even spend 5 minutes just writing what’s on your mind. Is there still time before you need to log in to work, can you craft or read a book in that time? When it’s time for a break, check out a museum tour or an animal feed. Shut off your computer when it’s time for your lunch break, go outside for a walk, or to just sit on your porch, maybe pick up that craft or book.

Find new ways of engaging with the world around you. Spend this time loving on your family and your pets more. Figure out what ways you can continue to live, and not only survive. Hop on a video call with your friends, or watch a movie with them.

There’s no going back to the way things were, it’s time to decide how you want them to be going forward, and to bring it forth into this world.