For many of us during this pandemic, home schooling, child care, work, being at home, relationships and more have all come together in a perfect storm to make it very difficult for us to really get truly absorbed in the things that we are doing.
I read a brilliant article recently about the importance of ‘flow’ in our lives. Flow is the state when you are fully immersed in what you’re doing, and time just falls away. Suffice it to say that the article left me feeling wistful as I concluded that flow has been in very short supply in my Lockdown life. I think it would be fair to say that working from home with 3 children under 6 doesn’t naturally lend itself to the state of flow. Especially if you also decide to help set up a town wide Mutual Aid group to support the community and have home schooling to grapple with….
Indeed, rather than a zen like state of immersion in my task I seem to be mostly engaged in keeping plates spinning! I find myself furiously typing a marketing plan with one hand, whilst stirring a pot of pasta with the other and listening half-heartedly to my 3-year old’s grievances against her older brother. Or making a Zoom call with a naked 2-year-old (why do 2-year olds hate clothes so much?) on my lap. Or updating the website for the Henley Mutual Aid group whilst simultaneously home schooling my 5-year-old…
We are so lucky to live in a beautiful area where the children can run free
In amongst work, home school, volunteering and life admin we have been incredibly lucky as a family. There have been many wonderful moments. The daily walks in the beautiful countryside around where we live, the attempts at making sourdough bread (well if everyone else is doing it…) eating all our meals as a family, the sunshine, getting to know our neighbours better… savouring life’s small pleasures... Yes, there have been days when lockdown has felt like the ultimate test in juggling and survival, but more than that it has been the most valuable lesson in finding joy in the simple things.
YOUR HOMEWORK
These are difficult times. Stress levels are high. Balls are being juggled and plates spun... at the same time. There are so many unknowns right now and so much anxiety. So, if you can, savour the small pleasures, then do. By seeking out the good moments you will start to see that there is always joy to be found.
And if you can find a way to find some flow in your life, then prioritise it. Put the kids to bed and then do an art class online. Get your work done before anyone else is up in the morning. Turn up the music and spend an hour baking or cooking. Find something that you can fully focus on, and find away to focus fully on it. You'll feel better for it.
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