I think most spiritual seekers, and even those that aren’t, have been asking themselves lately: What’s next after the Coronavirus quarantine? This question haunts my thoughts daily and I intuitively know, things cannot be the same after this. We can use this time of quarantine to help us create a more sustainable life.
I’ve known for a while that this way of living does not feel sustainable to me. It’s too fast, too much stress, too many things to do and not enough time and support to do it. We live our lives chasing more money so that we can buy more things. Spouses live like ships passing in the night. Families don’t see each other because parents have to work. I keep asking myself how did we get here?
It all just feels like too much.
And that’s just our nuclear family. What about the effects on our community? Oh wait, we don’t really have one because we are too busy. Working or commuting or just trying to keep our damn lives in order and from flying off the tracks.
How about the effects on our environment? Our dear mother Earth has been beaten down by our way of living. Why are we not all collectively shouting “AT WHAT COST IS THIS WORTH IT”?
Looking for spiritual meaning in this quarantine
We all know the physical reasons for being in quarantine right now. But behind these surface reasons, there are spiritual reasons and lessons. This time is the Earth and Universe trying to get our attention (and I’d say, they’ve done a pretty good job of capturing it).
Now is the time to go inward because there’s quite literally nothing else to do. No distractions and nowhere to be. Now is the time to tune in and connect to your inner wisdom.
Asking The Hard Questions
I’m certainly not saying that you have to change how you have been living. Maybe things are going really well for you. Maybe you feel like you have a perfect home/work life balance. Maybe your stress level is relatively low and you are able to consistently cook well for your family and also really take care good care of yourself.
If this is you, then you’re my hero and I want to know your secrets. But if that’s not you and you’re feeling just a bit like there’s something missing, like there’s gotta be a better way, then let’s all take a second and breathe a collective breath in and out. Once more: In…..then out….
Ok. Let’s ask ourselves some hard questions. Socrates said “The unexamined life is not worth living”. So here’s my list of questions. Use what resonates with you and add more of your own.
-Is how I am living now (before quarantine) sustainable for me? My health? family? Mother Earth? my happiness? my soul? my finances?
-What are my priorities in life? (list them and then go back and rate them on importance).
-Out of all your priorities, what are you honoring in real life? What are you not honoring?
-What needs your attention right now? Where do you want to be focusing?
-What are you missing in life? What do you want to do more of?
-***What do you want to do less of?****
-What can you take away or reduce in your life to help you?
Use these questions as a prompt for your journaling. Please do not let this add stress to your life. This is meant as more of a curiosity, a sort of how-am-I-doing-right-now exercise. Take inventory. If it feels stressful, save it for another time. But if you’re curious and nodding your head that something needs to change, give it a go!
What is sustainability?
Webster defines sustainability as ‘the ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level.’ We already know that the rate at which we are consuming Earth’s resources and polluting the Earth are not sustainable. So ask yourself, what else can I do to help with this. Some ideas are:
-carpool
-cut back on your plastic usage
-use reusable containers instead of plastic disposables
-plant a tree! grow a garden
-compost
This is just a simple list to get started.
Health
is an important factor into sustainability. For instance, how I have been living my life was just not sustainable for my health. My adrenals were suffering from all of the daily stress and constant motion and deadlines. I never had stillness. Hardly ever. And my health payed the toll for that. Now that I’ve been locked up for the past 3 weeks, my stress levels have greatly improved and so have my adrenals.
I know that continuing this quarantine is also unsustainable so I will need to find a balance between now and then. I still don’t know what that will look like, but for now, I am enjoying the stillness.
I found this really lovely article about how sustainable living can improve your health.
Finances
Another consideration. Do you like your job? Do you hate your job? Are you making a comfortable living or is it barely enough? Do you get to see your family enough? How many hours are you working? Does something need to change?
This is obviously a very personal subject and I’m not advocating to up and quit your job. I’m just saying to take a good look at it. If it is not working for you, start making plans for other alternatives.
Self-care
Are you taking care of yourself? Do you have time to do your hobbies? Are you getting enough sleep? Do you get time to meditate and exercise? Is not taking care of yourself sustainable? At what cost?
If not, what can you change? Can you hire a babysitter so you can be by yourself? Can you go to bed earlier? Can you sign yourself up for a fun class?
There are so many facets to our complex lives. Anything we can do to make them run smoother, with less stress, and be more sustainable is just another way to make our lives that much better.
How do we move forward?
We don’t know what the future holds and that can be scary and overwhelming. But what we are in control of is how we want to show up for life. Life isn’t done to us, it is for us. Use this time like a sieve. Filter out the unnecessary. Decide what is truly a responsibility and what is just an obligation. Figure out how you want to show up and then create that. Use this quarantine to help you create a more sustainable life.
There is joy to be had by all, we just have to take it.
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Thank you for reading and for being here. I would really love to hear how you are doing in quarantine and how you are using this time in the comments below.
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