The Art of Being, wall sculpture by teZa

As our blended family of humankind gradually climbs out of our Covid caves, I’m thinking how life, in many ways, has become—yes I’m going to be brave here and say it—better than ever!

Priorities have come forward in a clearer focus for many of us. These days—after almost a year and a half of isolation, precautions, and grievous loss, we continue to face hardships and upheaval galore to human society—life is so much more precious. Instead of being diverted by endless sources of distraction and entertainment as we were pre-pandemic, people have been forced to look within themselves. Some of us have enjoyed the inner journey. For my husband and myself, we are experiencing a deeper peacefulness. Our podcast ZLORD has evolved from originally documenting our outer travels to what it became when the pandemic hit: talking of every human’s inner journeys and discoveries. It’s as if surviving Covid is not only our reward for humbly accepting deprivation, sacrifice and personal deep cleansing, but having some deep realizations, too. Realizing we can choose to change is an opportunity to heal and embrace, truly, a higher, more comfortable perspective.

A lethal, worldwide pandemic—the unacceptable, the unthinkable—has asked all of us to choose to change. I wonder if others are feeling the same appreciation for Covid’s big life lesson as many of us are?

Healing and Surviving in our Blended World

When the world burst out with the deadly virus and we were told, by law, to stay away from one another, wear masks, and finally, trust the science and get vaccinated … for the first time in my lifetime I thought about death not as something that might happen, but rather that it was closer to a certainty—if I didn’t accept recommended guidelines. So I followed them. As all of us did. Because life is precious to all of us. So, too, like all of us, I wasn’t going to invite death any sooner than it’s going to arrive, anyway. Since Covid has happened, however, with its deadly assault of killing us humans, we all woke up to the realization we were walking hand-in-hand with the possibility of dying, more than ever. This has been especially hard for some folks who have a hard time with change.

Death became a daily reminder for us all. For me, I became acutely aware of each precious moment, each breath I took that keeps me alive. The pandemic forced me to stay rooted in each present moment, even more than usual. Each breath was my life anchor, my protector. I felt invigorated! With each new day, I uttered empowering mantras and did simple rituals, cloaking my aura, invigorating my immune system with the Light of positive-energized thoughts. And each day, I silently (or by blogging, podcasting, tweeting) expressed immense gratitude for another day my consort Carter and I got to enjoy together. We continue, daily, sending out wishes of protection for any who were, and still are, suffering.

To see more ways in which I learned to cope with the hard punches and sneaky curve balls of life, please check out my latest book Zen Love (NOW available as an audiobook, as well as Kindle and paperback). This lively, character-driven (and illustrated by me) saga is a nonfiction account of how I deal with challenges and suffering in my own 3-generational blended family.