04/29/2020
Three years ago I closed my practice in Ventura and began a summer of wanderlust. By choice, I did not work for over 9 months. I traveled, hiked Mont Blanc, drove across the US from Ventura to Cleveland with my Big Sister. I spent a month in Austria getting my yoga certification and feeling bliss in the mountains. Eventually I visited friends in Gardnerville Nevada and fell in love instantly. I opened my new practice in Gardnerville. I have met an amazing man. I created a full, wondrous life.
And now, with Covid, I see that all of this building of my life was in some small part, preparation for being able to manage these intense highs and lows brought on by this pandemic. Never, have I been told that I can’t work, that I can’t help and connect and share with my clients. I’ve been a massage therapist for 15 years!To get that taken away, to be told that all I’ve worked for is not permitted, by law, is heartbreaking. This time of no work is not by choice, to have that choice taken away from me, there is a mourning happening. I am hopeful that this will pass sooner rather than later because not maintaining hope leads me down a rabbit hole of a future of uncertainty.
Everyone is experiencing this in their own way. Wether they’re working or not, senior, or with kids, we are all being effected. In times of stress it is how we deal, how we face it that truly dictates how we grow from it.
I’m spending so much quality time with the people closest to me. Connecting through phone calls and checking in is a daily ritual. Doing yard work and home improvement projects and longer dog walks are all part of my days now. Integrating more yoga , hiking and mountain bike rides, all the things I love, into longer and done more often because I have the time. There are moments of frustration and sadness but clinging to the joy and beauty I have and maintaining my gratitude of this life I’ve created is the only choice I have. Hope and gratitude, may it be within us all during this unprecedented time.