A walk on the beach near my house. Everything and nothing has changed. Lockdown brings silence and distance. Lockdown clears the streets and shores. But we share the same sea. The waves caress the sand, soothing it, over and over. The waves are unstoppable, relentless, persistent. Waves of peace, waves of grief, waves of love.
The rhythms of our lives have shifted. Work and home for those who have either or both are changed. New words fill our mouths - lockdown, furlough, R rates. Our hearts are raw. But in our hearts, there is breath, there is life. There is love.
Animals reclaim cities.
Rivers still run.
So to quieten a busy, busy brain, full of fears and worries, I lie on the floor. I close my eyes. I put my hands on my belly and I just breathe. Just breath. In and out. In and out. This disease robs us of breath. But this breathing pauses the fear.
I lie on the floor, I breathe and I remember my whole self. I breathe into my ribs and think about my lungs. I imagine the breath reaching every tiny place in my lungs. I breath. Down into my belly, up into my brain. Soon all I hear is my own heart beating. I think of the waves, unstoppable, changing, still and ferocious. And I breathe.
I hope that we can sometimes just breathe. I want our breath to connect and strengthen us.
We share the same seas, we share the same sky. We share the same breath. Breathe. It comes in waves. Breathe.
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