May You Live in Interesting Times

According to a miniscule amount of research, the quote “May you live in interesting times,” is not of Chinese origin.

It might be British.

Nevertheless, we are in very interesting times now. Will it be a blessing or a curse?

I think that is up to us (though I heard there is a run on guns so maybe curse…?).

As crazy as things are, I am actually getting more and more excited about what this lock-down might bring us. I found on my local Orange County neighborhood site a formal document posted by a member of the site that says that every Orange County citizen must stay inside except for shopping, doctor, or other emergency visits.

Number 10 in this document says: “Violation of this Order is subject to fine, imprisonment, or both. (California Health and Safety Code section 120295.) And the O in order was capitalized.

So, if I go to the park and walk even by myself could I get arrested?

And then would they throw me into a cell (that has probably NOT been wiped down with Clorox or other disinfectants) with a bunch of other people so that we can contaminate each other?

So why, you might think, is this crazy person so excited and apparently happy about this disastrous situation? Does she have no heart, doesn’t she care about all the people who are sick or who have died?

She does. Yes, she does. I care, and yet there is nothing I can do about it, so spending my time with my mind in that gutter will do nothing at all for mankind, but if I get my head into the clouds and feel joy and possibility, I might (probably not but it is possible) be able to bring more joy to my friends and family on line and on the phone, and maybe through carrier pigeon, though that is possibly asking for another disaster… I think flying animals are out of favor right now.

I get the daily e-mail the Upworthiest, which I just looked at, and which made me laugh and become excited about the possibilities.

It stars with the title of an article entitled “Millennials and Boomers may freak out over social distancing, but it’s Gen X’s time to shine” (https://www.upworthy.com/millennials-and-boomers-may-freak-out-over-social-distancing-but-for-gen-x-its-time-to-shine) an “Xer’s” post overlaid on a picture from the Breakfast Club says “As an X’er I feel like my whole life has led up to this important moment when my nation will call upon me to do nothing.”

A Cold Play artist held an impromptu on-line concert.

A landlord in Maine is not collecting rent in April and is asking others to do the same.

And a Canadian started a Caremongering campaign to counteract the scaremongering that is happening now.

We are there for one another in ways that perhaps we haven’t been, or haven’t been able to do, or haven’t wanted to until now.

I’ve been getting texts from friends saying “How are we supposed to do Pokemon Go hunting if we can’t leave the house!?!?!”

We are going to have to find new and exciting things to do and ways to do them. We can watch those dozens of movies we have on our shelves.

I just finished watching (for probably the 100^th time) one of my favorites: Now and Then, a movie about friendship over time.

One of the characters, who spent his life hiding and regretting past events, shares the wisdom he has gained over the years with another, much younger character: 

He says: “Things will happen in your life that you can’t stop…but that’s no reason to shut out the world. There’s a purpose for the good and for the bad."

We have never shut down an entire country. We are basically being forced to shut out the world. But with the technology we have today, we do not need to shut out the world and there may be ways to bring it even closer.

Things are bound to be awful (pre-mature death is never something that brings joy), but things will shake out and become good - I trust that.

My daughter is doing morning and evening mediations 8amPST and 6pmPST on Instagram, and I am loving doing those with her and the few others who are joining in.

I am finding ways to meet with friends and family on zoom. 

Communities are coming together to help those who cannot leave their homes, and people are, believe it or not, sharing their toilet paper!!!

We do need to get out into nature and to breath fresh air even if it’s just out our own front door. Look at and appreciate the sky and the clouds - we need to appreciate everything and anything we can. Walks are good if they are possible.

The library is closed, but I have so many books on my shelf that I haven’t yet read that are just waiting for me to pick them up.

Try and get rid of things. I did something called 27-9 – getting rid of 27 things for 9 days in a row. It really energized me and every time I go into an area that has been cleared out it makes my heart smile and I feel really good about myself for having done it. Plus, I can now, in certain areas, even find what I need!!

What good things can we find to do? This is a time to find blessings. There is a journal called The 5 minute Journal by a company called Intelligent Change. They have given the following gift which I am sharing below to anyone who wants it – it’s the first bunch of pages and the layout of the journal which literally takes five minutes or less morning and evening.

The questions in the morning are:

1. I am grateful for… (and then there are three lines for three things).

2. What would make today great? (and again 3 lines for the three things you feel would make it great), and finally

3. a daily affirmation (I am… and whatever makes your heart sing – my comment, not theirs)

The evening questions are:

1.   3 amazing things that happened today (again 3 lines)

2.  How could I have made today even better?

That is it. All of the pre-information is included (it is not many pages and worth reading). It gives you answer to questions like why should I do this, and what what is this good for?

Read it. And when it says reward yourself for doing it for 5 days in a row, do that please. I did. It is a life-affirming act.

Many of us have a lot of time on our hands. This might just be a great way to fill it.

So here is the link… a gift from Intelligent Change

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1186/0402/files/5MJ_Sample_7_Day_Intro.pdf?v=1584397021&utm_campaign=Five%20Minute%20Journal%20Free%20Daily%20Layout%203%2F16%2F20%20%28Lz2i4Y%29&utm_medium=campaign-email&utm_source=Klaviyo&_ke=eyJrbF9lbWFpbCI6ICJuYW5jeWV2ZTJAZ21haWwuY29tIiwgImtsX2NvbXBhbnlfaWQiOiAibkZFZTNSIn0%3D

And here is the letter they sent out to us who bought the book (and/or are on their mailing list which you can sign up for once you start the process)

Hi Nancy,

We want to start this email by sending you love and positive energy. We hope you are safe and healthy.

Last week ended with the Intelligent Change team asking ourselves what we could do to create a ripple of positivity during this emotionally heavy and unpredictable global experience.

We decided this ripple could be created by focusing on what we've always focused on: gratitude.

We want to start the first ripple and say thank you to everyone who partakes in a regular gratitude practice by using The Five-Minute Journal.

We want to push that ripple to grow larger by giving away an introduction to The Five-Minute Journal and the daily layout.

You'll find an introduction to The Five-Minute Journal and the daily layout here. 

(I gave you the link above)

We encourage you to share this with your friends, family, and colleagues to create more ripples of positivity, these ripples of positive change would be created by you.

With gratitude,

The Intelligent Change Team