Finding Purpose in a Pandemic

-

These days the moments of grace and the moments of grief seem to come in quick succession. You make your fundraising goal even though your non-profit’s gala was cancelled. Then you receive the first email announcing a summer camp cancellation. Your 13-year-old learns how to bake a mean carrot cake from scratch. The next morning a best friend texts that she lost her 40-something cousin in Texas overnight. 

We try and hold on to the bright moments, the #silverlinings, in all this loss, but sometimes it’s hard not to dwell in the darkness. I found comfort in the words of the wise Carolyn Hax, advice columnist for The Washington Post, who recently wrote, ” ..instead of living in a macro place of hopelessness, please push yourself deliberately to a micro place of purpose.” Doing something, however small, for yourself, your family, or your neighborhood, can help lift the gloom and doom, even for the moment.

Here are some of the ways I’ve found those ‘micro places of purpose’:
  • Attending “vurch” (my husband’s term for virtual church) on Sunday mornings: there is something comforting about this communal service, especially with live comments and prayers.  And you get to wear your pajamas.  See here for ideas on virtual services.
  • Support a local winery by tuning in to virtual wine tastings: your local wineries (in the DMV, check out Walsh Family Wines) may be offering this service, which includes a shipment of the bottles to be sampled.  Again, pajamas are an appropriate attire.
  • Spread some neighborhood cheer: My friend and neighbor Kristi and I delivered daffodils and a printed note with both of our cell numbers to local doorsteps in case anyone was in need.  A simple sidewalk chalk message can go a long way.  Next up: a ‘teddy bear hunt’ for the kids. 
  • Support a local charity as a family:  Make and deliver PBJs to a local food bank with your kiddos. Seeing the line of people waiting for food helped put things into perspective.
  • Leave out a basket for delivery heroes:  We left out wipes and bottled water with a thank you note from my older son for the mail lady, amazon driver, grocery delivery person, and other frontline workers.  On a hot day, offer a cold drink from the fridge or a granola bar. 
  • Send a card or care package: We put together small boxes for the grandparents with a roll of toilet paper, snacks, a card, and art from my youngest son. Send a card just because. Hallmark sells assorted cards that are much cheaper than buying them individually.
  • Drive-by birthday: Even grownups (especially this one) like to celebrate their big day.  So show up in someone’s street with a sign, a candle, and sing happy birthday.  (And for once, you can stop after the first time!)
Would love your thoughts and ideas for finding a small place of purpose within the pandemic.  Sending love your way.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Welcome to Cookie, a blog for moms

-
Image
In these crazy times, I've done a lot of things I've never done before: traded beans for a carton of cream, offered to buy a used men's bike for my son with toilet paper, and learned I'd need to have my temperature taken before I could pick up mail from my office.  And that was all before noon today. And now I'm adding another first: this blog.  We are all figuring out how to be moms in this "coronaverse" and I thought it might help to try and be a resource and a touchpoint as we navigate this craziness together. First, you should know, I don't have it all together.  My life goal yesterday was "go 24 hours without locking myself in the bathroom to cry".  Accomplished!  Second, I'm not a medical or educational expert, I'm an event planner for a non-profit.  Well technically I'm an event un-planner at the moment, which is not as fun.  Third, I believe in the power of kindness so it's important that this is a judgment-free zo...
Read more

The Fur Coat Club revisited

-
As children, my sister and I  saw a movie about two girls who like to touch fur coats unnoticed, so we decided to make our own Fur Coat Club . When our parents would take us to the theater or somewhere fancy, we challenged each other to see how many ladies clad in fur we could sneak past and surreptitiously touch their soft coats. As children, we travelled a lot to visit our extended family so we spent a lot of time together. We rarely fought but when we did my mother would tell us that we were friends. Prompting my sister to reply “We can’t be friends, we’re sisters!”. But, as she usually was, my mother was right. Friends we became and friends we remain, not letting more than a couple of days go by without at least a text. Now, many years later, my sons are experiencing a similar level of togetherness. They are teenagers and just as they were getting used to a higher level of freedom and responsibility, their world was locked down. The early bus rides and demanding school and te...
Read more

A Single Step

-
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step – Chinese Proverb Yesterday, my dog got more steps than I did*. Since the start of the global pandemic, my world has shrunk as has my step count. Climbing two flights of stairs to my office has been replaced by the ten steps from my kitchen to home office. I could always count on higher steps on a grocery shopping day, but even that has been replaced by delivery. My sons’ soccer games have been replaced by drills in the front yard so now the steps from my car to the field (and the subsequent pacing of a goalie mom) are no more.  Bottom line, I move a lot less than I used to, So how to keep moving in this stressful time with gyms closed and all of us sticking closer to home? First, find a form of exercise you love (or at least, don’t hate) and second, to quote friend and fitness coach Kristine Olesen, “something is better than nothing”. I finally found exercise that I love when my kids were little, and I heard abo...
Read more