The Long Run
I have a love/hate relationship with the Apple Air/Ear Pods. I am certain my inner ear is deformed because I cannot keep those damn things in my ears. I even went Pro because they come with sizes and they still drop out. I was painting my basement and one popped out and right into the paint can (amazingly I wiped it off and it works fine). The amount of minutes I have spent trying to connect those things to various computers, IPads and my phone is time forever lost. This life we have created, being able to do everything (almost) online is exhausting and it is my livelihood right now. I have learned more about bluetooth, IP addresses, Ethernet cables, and WiFi connections that I ever had a desire to know. Personally I am experiencing a large amount of anxiety by creating and sustaining a virtual connection. I have a whole new level of admiration for any IT support person. The 3 hours I spent on the phone with Cody from Zoom this week felt about as intimate as the time I spend with a therapist. I even cried on the phone at one point with him and he talked me through it. Click HERE to learn about Zoom Fatigue. I laughed out loud at #4: "Looking at your own face is stressful."
I miss personal connection. I miss hugging. I miss high-fiving. I miss pausing while having a conversation and not worrying that we were instead disconnected. Mostly I miss energetic connections. In yoga, part of the appeal for me as a teacher and as a student is being in a class, in community, and moving and breathing with one another. Breathing with one another is now the enemy. I still cannot wrap my head around it.
This is a long haul, the marathon not the sprint. My daughter wisely said to me at lunch, "This is no longer a quarantine, this is a way of life." My husband moved his office into my daughters old bedroom at the beginning of Covid and has kept track of his days working from home on this bulletin board. This week he celebrates (?) a milestone at 100 days and does not feel like there is a well defined path back.
Basically, we need to dig deep and find the tenacity to continue. For our businesses it is evolve or die. I offer you the latest self help term GRIT. Author Angela Duckworth defines grit as "passion and sustained persistence applied toward long-term achievement, with no particular concern for rewards or recognition along the way." The practice of yoga offers us the same thing; time to connect to ourselves, make choices along the way for ease in body and mind, and no attachment to the outcome, again and again. There is no yoga finish line or a special colored belt handed out to determine your capacity or capability. The juicy part is the journey itself...sustained persistence.
So I am going to find ways to keep the ear pods in so you can hear me clearly. I will wait for the spinning circles to stop and the prompts on the screens to tell me I have made the connection and then I will offer the practice of yoga. Maybe you can join me.