We are not meant to live in isolation. What makes us healthy and whole is the connections we form with one another.  With our families. Our friends. Our colleagues and our community…  The thing we need the most to feel healthy has become harder to get.

After more than 30 years in the field of social work, I know one thing to be true. We do not need to be victims to our situation. We have choices to make, each and every day about how we want to live our lives. How we choose to show up for ourselves and each other.

Practice #8 - Be Surprised

We are 33 days into this whatever we’re calling it. Shelter in place. Lockdown. Quarantine. Groundhog Day. We go through each day as if in a trance. We feel numb. Disconnected. We check the calendar. It’s Saturday. It doesn’t matter. Every day feels the same.

Life is full of ordinary moments. We rise and slide our feet into well worn slippers. We pad to the kitchen and pour ourselves that first cup of coffee. We shower and slip on a favorite t-shirt. So much of life is rote. Repetitive. Predictable. Predictability allows us to settle in, to know what is coming next, to not feel anxious. But predictability has another side. When life becomes rote, we lose sight of the wonder of the ordinary moment. The joy in awakening each day. The warmth of the slippers. The rich smell of that first cup of coffee. We lose site of the spontaneity of life. A conversation that springs up at a moments notice. The beauty of the house finch that eats at the feeder. The laughter from an impromptu puppet show that appears in the middle of dinner.

Try this:

Look for the unexpected. Be amazed by the things that happen each day. Practice being surprised by the things that you take for granted.. Even in this difficult time, the wonder of life if out there, waiting for us to notice.