Sheltering in place in California. It’s been over 100 days in which I have slept nightly in my OWN bed. Not a common act for someone who travels for work – or should I put that verb into the past tense? I have blessedly been in good health and, like so many others, transitioned my work online. This moment in time has asked all of us to adjust in so many ways. For me, this ‘opportunity’ to stay at home for the last 100 plus days (with many more to go) has been an opportunity to go ‘within’ – both literally and emotionally. While I haven’t left my apartment but mainly for walks in the neighborhood or to the grocery store, I have been ‘traveling’ in many ways. I found my kitchen. I found my cushion (my meditation cushion). And I found a deeper intention in how I want to live going forward. I am….
- Learning how to cook and make proper cocktails
- Taking time for a consistent meditation practice
- Continuing to workout using online supports
- Building my bandwidth to be more emotionally and spiritually present by working with my Warriors for the Human Spirit cohort. (If you are interested, future trainings start in September.)
- Participating in a Conversations at the Growing Edge course with Jennifer Garvey Berger so I can support colleagues as they move forward in their work.
- Transitioning all my workshops to online webinars and courses
- Writing (slowly but surely) my next book on being a better and more developed self at work
What is ‘learning’ me’ as I go into July, this new normal and whatever comes next, is that I am more trustworthy as a human being, coach, facilitator, colleague, and friend if I have centered myself, meditated, walked, worked out, eaten and slept.
While these practices might be thought of as only self-care (and some might say we have no time to do this work as there is SO much we really need to do, so many problems to solve, and so many more urgent needs to deal with), the act of meditation or stretching can be seen as so much bigger than self-focused work if one does them with the intention of doing them to be kinder, healthier and more emotionally present to the world. I know this is how I want to show up in this ‘deep end’ moment. Join me.
If you have any questions, comments or topic suggestions, please feel free to email me at Jennifer@jenniferabrams.com. I look forward to hearing from you!
*Jennifer Abrams, “100 Days and More To Come", July 1, 2020,https://jenniferabrams.com/100-days-and-more-to-come/
Photo by Barney Yau on Unsplash
