Why I’m Grateful, amidst a pandemic

Recognize I am not the only one to express this but figure it doesn’t hurt to add flame to the fire, keeping our spirits up by reflecting on what we’re grateful for. Here’s my list in no particular order:

1. Le confinement / The lockdown has coincided in France with near non-stop beautiful spring weather —after a winter of grey clouds, rain, wind, and so on… blue skies and sunshine!
2. The pandemic crisis has helped clarify my priorities.
   Moving abroad the 1st of January this year and losing my job shortly after were a fairly strong combination to compel me toward self-care and care for my family. (was also trying hard to understand the customs & culture around me.)
   Because balancing a job search with an intercultural re-orientation with parenting and marriage and household duties while also getting to know my family-in-law … it was a lot!
   So with the lockdown’s constraints in place, I’ve narrowed my priorities further: been focusing more on introspection (as well as calls with close friends / family) and spending quality time at home with my daughter. Simple as that!
3. Since we met I’d been telling my wife I’d be happy as a stay-at-home dad, and she never quite believed me (perhaps rightly? especially considering my career focus these past 5 yrs). Now the past month we’ve had the opportunity to test things out for real: she is working full-time at the local grocery store (filling in for mothers who needed to stay home to care for their kids now that schools are closed), and I take care of cleaning, cooking, and caring for our daughter (at-home tutor, playmate, and father).
   Honestly, I am enjoying it, even if it can be tiring, and not every day is perfect. (hey, parents! are you with me?)
4. Feeling fortunate there is so much positivity out there!
   I’m prone to anxiety, as my wife can attest, and losing my job two weeks after moving to a new country triggered enough anxiety to last quite a while. But this crisis is a shared experience — and I have felt so encouraged by content I’m finding out there: Family in small town PA and friends in big city Brooklyn both loving on Jimmy Fallon : At Home Edition. Enjoying FREE live-streamed concerts of our favorite artists. The beauty of good social media content like here, and here, and here, and here.
5. Also loving that certain social innovations in this moment are being given a more honest hearing. The ways people are coming together to explore alternative solutions, sometimes through donating time or money, other times through political organizing… Universal Basic Income gaining traction, e-sports getting normalized, remote work best practices being shared, the importance of internal communications being emphasized, alternative forms of continuous learning becoming THE REALITY for students everywhere, and so on and so forth (as my grandma often says).
6. While I suppose it can feel there is plenty of reasons to panic (the 16+ million jobless claims filed in the US the past 3 wks, the struggling stock market, the feelings of stir-crazy from staying home too long, the mounting loss of life), there are also so many people reminding us to deepen our collective wisdom (two personal favorites: Kyle Westaway and Meg Bolger, whose email newsletters I read regularly). Lady Gaga together with Global Citizen are organizing an awesome event for this week; Brain Pickings’ Maria Popova has switched her brilliant Universe in Verse event to a live-stream on April 25th; Rebecca Solnit has published an essay I find so beautiful…
   It’s being widely shared that meditation, at-home exercise, breathing in the fresh air from your window, encouraging one another by phone or video chat, volunteering to deliver groceries for our elders, showing gratitude for our privileges, pursuing new (or neglected) hobbies, appreciating each other’s different strengths, and generally finding ways to take care of ourselves and those around us we love… are all great ways to stay sane and hopeful.
   I’m grateful for this collective wisdom.
7. The sacrifices of nurses, doctors, researchers, as well as the hard work of lower-wage workers delivering packages, stocking our grocery stores, cleaning or caring or serving — all those whom we regularly under-appreciate but will now recognize: Thank You! (Perhaps now we can raise their pay too?)
8. Coming back to the beginning, I am appreciating the opportunity to ground myself in the basics: cooking more, watching the seasons change, having time to be more present for my family. (yesterday we talked about my childhood, while looking at old photos and souvenirs — it was great!)

Things might get worse before they get better (and it depends as well on point of view), but from where I’m sitting, I want to choose to be grateful. & expect nothing of anyone else. We each have different ways to cope.

Sidenote: It’s important to me to admit I am incredibly lucky / privileged and am not suffering financial distress in this time. If you know those who are in distress, let’s work together to help others out. If you yourself struggle with anxieties in this time, you’re not alone! & If you’ve found what I’ve written to be helpful, please clap and share. Thanks, all.