Shut in & Isolated

​Being shut in or separated from others is an interesting sensation. I recently took a new position where I work from my home. At first, I thought this would be a unique experiment in social distancing. Then that word took on an entirely new meaning as COVID19 spread across the country and we were all asked to be isolated from one another. This is not a blog about COVID19 but rather a thought about the opportunity this social distancing offers each of us to take a pause, a moment to explore our personal self. To look inward to find how we do spend a bit more time with the person that we should be closest to, ourselves.
             
I was prepared for that journey when I took this new position. I was prepared to have to spend time challenging my self to stay n task. To spend more time being cerebral and thinking about what it was to be alone. These were all things that I had taken time to process. What I was not prepared for was what it would mean to drive down the street and not see my neighbors out and about. Or what it would mean to go to the corner store and see the lot empty and the shelves barren. This type of alone has caused me to ask some deeper questions. It has pushed me back to a time when I was living in a tent and I found much of my time spent in prayer and meditation.
 
“Who am I?”, I ask myself. “What is it I want from myself?”, I ask myself. These types of questions offer a platform for a larger conversation that I need to be having with myself to help move my spirit forward daily. These are the types of questions that help to keep me alive and fresh every day. These questions offer opportunities to see new shades to the path in front of me. These are the questions that have brought me back to athletics, back to writing, and back to a brighter spirit in myself that keeps me happy.

​I encourage you, in this time of social distancing, to take a few moments each day to ask yourself these inner probing questions that will help to move you forward in whatever adventure your spirit is seeking.