I am working on a blog post called “Pacing Yourself in the Time of Social Distancing”; however, because I am pacing myself, it is not yet ready to share. Meanwhile, I would like to share with you this morning contemplation I wrote on connection. My gift to you. - Vic

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Good morning, my friend.

Let's get together right now. Would you like that?

We may not be able to touch hands or hug. I may not be able to rest the right side of my face on the right side of yours, heart to heart. We may not be able to face each other, just across a table, coffees in our hands, our words bumping into each other through the sagittal space we share. We may not be able to do any of these things right now...and yet,

we can breathe together, in this space that is spaceless, where there is no real distance, where we are all connected.

I exhale, fully aware that I am releasing parts of myself to the environment. I am confident that my body knows how to release the stuff I no longer need - and while, right now, we might be inclined, consciously or not, to focus on the stuff we or others are exhaling that can be of danger, I'm suggesting we choose to remember that our out breath is also a gift. The trees, the grasses, the crocuses that are just finishing their debut, the ready-for-their-show daffodils all live because of our exhale, and, likewise, we because of theirs.

My exhale becomes their exhale, my toxic waste taken in by their wise cells, accepted, transformed into nourishment for them, and then passed on, out into their environment. Passed out of them into others and others until it finds you, a gift of breath especially for you, to do with what you will.

And please know that I am here, accepting your gift. As I inhale again, I give thanks to you, my human friend, and to all the plants between us, who have made this breath possible. I give thanks to the connections that exist, always.

I urge us both to take time, at least once today and as often as possible, to consciously honor this Breathing thing we are doing and often don't even notice. I want to remind us both to spend some time out of the house and in nature, breathing and paying attention to the life that is all around us.
And to remember: we are all in this together.

Blessed be, my friend.