Yesterday I visited an old friend (we were roommates in college) and made photos of her dog, Tesla. We sat outside, socially distanced, and talked about family, life, the pandemic, and joy. While I was there my friend and her husband received word that their first grandchild had just been born in California, a healthy little girl. Talk about joy!
Dog Days
Tesla refused to social distance (someone forgot to give her a memo on COVID-19) and insisted on sitting on my lap. And I couldn’t resist her sweet personality. She’s barely bigger than my cat Gracie and holding her and scratching her under the chin (which she liked very much) made her very happy. This was my first time venturing outside of visiting immediate family or going to the grocery store since stay-at-home began. And sadly, it felt very strange (but good) to be sitting and talking in person with a friend.
As I pay attention to my own feelings of safe/not safe that have developed in a short matter of months I wonder how this time is affecting children. Will they learn to fear strangers and others? Or will they resiliently return to normal childhood behaviors very quickly once the worries about COVID are gone?
It seems that we all need to be mindful of how social distancing and fear of catching COVID-19 is impacting us so that we can make choices about how we want to be in the world now and in the future. Kindness, generosity, and friendliness are important values to instill in our children and in ourselves.
“Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind.”
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I remind myself often that we are all connected. The well-being of one person, animal, or plant impacts my own well-being.
May you walk in beauty.
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