Go Home
by Leslie Sann
There is no place like home.
~ Dorothy
Most of us are sheltering in place which essentially means staying at home. We are being told to go home. Home is considered a sanctuary — a place of refuge. Home to me is a place of peace. I carry it with me always. I may drift away from the calm within yet I can always come home to peace
What is home to you?
The counsel to stay at home has wisdom. When I leave home and go out into the world I set myself up to step into the disturbance Out There. Other people’s thinking, fears, concerns and opinions can stir us up into states of anxiety, even panic. The news is sometimes informative and sometimes full of mis-information with dramatization of the facts. It can create a heavy heart and sadness as the images of human suffering move across the screen.
Yes, something IS going on in the world. Corona Chaos is moving. Life has become uncertain. It is a good time to go home, to peace, calm and loving.
Suddenly so much is recognized as unimportant, trivial distractions. As we can no longer plan into the future with certainty, we have to be present here and now.
The pandemic is forcing us to face the awareness that we, too, shall die. My sense is that some of the panic is of people facing their mortality. Something we don’t often do because we have been so distracted with our doing in the world.
Now we are told to go home.
We no longer have our distractions. Just the news telling us how many people died, how may sick. Stories broadcast, such as my aunt, dying at 98 of old age, alone without her children by her side.
This isn’t only about the sick and dying. It is also about not being physically available for each other.
Not gathering for a funeral or important holidays carries sadness. Yet it gives perspective to our lives.
However, we are creative. We will figure our way through. Humans are resilient, inventive and creative as is no other animal on this planet. For example, this week people are having Zoom Passover seders, which is a celebration of freedom in the face of calamity and despair. I participated in one. We joined from six different locations. It was lovely, loving and sweet. An example of using creativity (and technology) to overcome adversity.
This virus is also bringing gifts. The awareness that life is precious. That there are people in our lives that matter a great deal.
Have you said what you want to say to the people you love? If you haven’t, what is it you want to say into them? What are you waiting for? If you need something meaningful to do with your day, I suggest telling people you love them and why.
Many are facing hardship right now. If you are, who can you ask for assistance? If you are not, how can you be helpful to others? Simple acts of consideration, kindness, reaching out, caring make a difference.
As is staying home.
Go home.
Come home to peace.
Peace is present.
If you don’t know where home is, or if you are having a hard time finding your way back to peace, please reach out for help. I am one of many people who have been trained to help at times of turmoil.
Being in close quarters with people you love, even in the best of relationships, can be challenging. Working at home with your family in the next room adds additional stress to the difficulties of our current condition. Uncertainty about our financial futures, people we know who have been tested positive, and more. All is a lot to deal with all at once.
Don’t suffer longer than necessary. Reach out. Below are several options of useful resources I have created.
Take care of you and find a way to go home.
With my Love and Blessings,
