My Social-Distancing Diaries- Week 1

Hola Chica,

So Gia was supposed to be on Spring Break this week, Busch Gardenin’, everyday-beachin’, and dinosaur fossil diggin’ at the local museum.  But here we are… on day 6 of our voluntary quarantine.  She stays reminding me that this is NOT the spring break she deserves, but she does find comfort in the fact that mother nature is healing itself in our absence.  She’d been on a real ‘save the planet’ tip lately– mailing the mayor last month, and starting a successful-ass petition (50 signatures and counting), and 9 person clean-up crew at her school. Her most recent Amazon request was a trash picker-upper arm-y thing so she can collect and properly dispose of litter on our walks, so yes, the wildlife re-emergence headlines are making her BIG smile. #SilverLining

Continue!>>>
I pulled Max out of pre-school (they’re still open!), cancelled my weekly Monday night meditations on the beach (ugh), stocked up on groceries (thanks Amazon Prime and Shipt!), and I’m definitely, already feeling like a caged bird.  I walk along the beach every single morning, but in the last week have only ventured out on the dock in the back.  This morning, I saw a manatee, so that was pretty dope.  Anxiety is noticed, especially at night, wondering if we quarantined early enough… my parents live with us and they’re of primary concern.  It’s still pretty lit here in Clearwater (they’re finally closing beaches tonight) and I was still out and about through Friday night, and had to run some necessary errands on Monday morning. I thought I was coming down with a cold on Tuesday, but I’m feeling better.  Never ran a fever.

So, in addition to spending my days creative strategizing and consulting for Mirror Digital and the beautiful ReflectBeauty team, I’ve been keeping busy practicing presence in other ways:

1. Lots of tea– I had a slight headache and a throat tickle on Tuesday (which seems to have lessened), so I (temporarily) retired my evening glass of Pinot Noir for several fancy cups of chamomile and rooibos tea. This tea set belonged to my Gma Maxine… it’s super delicate so I left it behind in STL, but my mom surprised me and brought it down to Florida!

2. Scrolling Corona virus memes- and getting on my sister’s nerves cause I stay sending them!

3. Reading- Y’all know how I do. I’m currently revisiting Joel Goldsmith’s ‘Beyond Thoughts and Words’ (chapter 10, tho), Robert Adams’ ‘The Silence of the Heart‘, and ‘The Heart of Awareness‘ (a translation of Ashtavakra Gita).  Practice is wayyyy more important than reading, so I spend most of my day in conscious awareness of Presence aka our true Self, with just a sprinklin’ of reading. ‘If you can’t go outside, go within’!

4. Henna- In addition to reading about and practicing Presence, I’m also, with the help of Gia, reading about and learning to apply our own Mehndi! I got my pre-prepped, pure henna foils and some beautiful patterns to use for guidance. In other news, my roots are LOUD, so I need to henna them up, too! #whatsmymotivationtho

5. Boho locs– An impulse buy off of a facebook ad last week!  I’ve never crocheted before, and I’m one of those black girls that does’t even know how to french braid, so there’s that. But I got the bob length mermaid in off-black, and I promise to post pics!

6. Skin care- I can stay greasy alllll day! YAY!!! My latest obsession is Bolden’s Glow Mask.  I rock it all day and seal with vitamin e oil,

7. Dem babies– Momessori starts next week, but I ain’t new to this.  When we were transitioning from DC to Florida (laying over in STL), I primarily homeschooled Gia.  With the proper structure, materials, and environment, you can SLAY! When I re-enrolled her in school, her test scores were insanely awesome and she placed in a great class in her STEM-focused program.  Straight A’s all year so far.  The only wild card is King Max! We’ll see how this goes! But for now, they’re climbing the walls spring breaking!