I took these photos just a few days ago, but it might as well have been years – the world has changed so much in so little time.
We’re all at home, all five of us, and so far it is going great. I’m technically an extrovert, but I usually need space to gather my thoughts and relax. And there isn’t much of that at the moment!
So I’m thinking: this is my challenge right now. To find space for myself while living with all these other people. To be able to write and create despite being interrupted. To find calm and happiness amidst all the anxiety.
I need to prioritize self-care at the moment, and I can feel how it is especially important right now! I need to be a good example for the kids, and I can’t be that if I’m not calm and happy. So I need to get my stress levels down, eat good food, enjoy nature, and be mindful and just accept everything as it happens.
I’m stress-crafting a bit at the moment! I watch opera and make flowers and take breaks and help the kids with whatever they need help with. We all meditate and exercise in the morning, and if it wasn’t for the small thingy that is the pandemic life would be pretty sweet.
We have each other, we have a big house and a garden (courtesy of me always wanting to be prepared – I’ve mentally prepared for this ever since the bird flu, when we lived in a small apartment in Copenhagen).
It feels so odd to go outside where nature continues as if nothing has happened.
Weird.
”May you live in interesting times” – an old supposedly Chinese proverb/curse. And these are definitely interesting times!
I try to take one day at a time. I am so grateful for my meditation practice. I am so grateful that my kids have a meditation practice. I am so grateful that my kids value their school and do their homework diligently every day. I am so grateful that I somehow through all this found a love of cooking that just popped out of nothing.
I stand in the kitchen and slice ginger and garlic, and smell the scents wafting through the house. I savor the tomato sauce that has been cooking for an hour, the aroma infused in every little bit of the stew. And the lemon peel that gives a slight after-flavor.
We cook food from different countries each day – Japan, France and Thailand so far. And I send bunny-videos to people, and watch funny stories online.
We’ll get through this, we will, and hopefully all of us will take with us valuable lessons into the unknown future. It’s weird times, folks, and my family are trying to make the best of it!
Go check out:
Kitchen quarantine with Massimo Bottura
He’s a master chef who streams from his kitchen every night – such a wonderful happy family! It lifts our spirits to watch them!
And look, dolphins in Venice!: