2020 is Year 0

 This is 2020, otherwise known as Year Zero, Year 0, the year of COVID. Last year was 2019, or 1 BC. One year before COVID. Next year will be Year 1, or 1 AC, the first year after COVID emerged. 

I am reminded of year 1 BC, when I went to restaurants with friends and we never wore masks. We mingled at concerts and in stores. We could purchase our favorite toilet paper and the store shelves were always fully stocked. 

Yes, back in 1 BC we had the social problems that stubbornly endure today: systemic income inequality, racism, sexism, and ignorance. This time of crisis, this Year 0, has revealed those social problems to even the sleepiest among us. A crisis is the perfect time to implement improvements. Let's wipe out student debt, tax the wealthy, institute national healthcare and free college education, and generally love each other and live in peace and prosperity evermore. 

Vaccine

 I get that government needs to continue, but direct-care workers should get the vaccine before members of Congress.

Click books....

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Empty Nest

Letting go of loved ones can be a challenge. Babies grow up, find their own way, and move on. Relationships change. Life seems to be a series of letting go. 

Life is finding new trails and climbing new mountains. You may walk with a companion for a short way or a long while. In the end, we all walk alone. So what sustains you? What motivates you to keep walking?

Smiles

 Now that we all wear masks, we must smile with our eyes. Smile with our posture. Smile with the energy we emanate. Smile ~

Home is where the heart is....

 Home is in my heart. I carry my home with me wherever I go. Home is memories of the past, present connections, and hope for the future. 

The Covid Life

We are out and about a bit more now. Masks, of courses, and physical distancing. Hand sanitizer everywhere, the runny kind. Fewer hugs. 

Reiki and Reiki classes canceled. Distance only. Reiki on hold. 

What about schools, parks, museums, concerts, and restaurants? Limited, closed, closed forever, gone. So many people and pastimes gone. Instead we have screenings, staycations, and sanitizers. We have people getting mad about masks, like it's a personal freedom to spread infection. People who believe COVID-19 is a myth. Crazy times. At least there is toilet paper in the grocery store now, but it's the thin pandemic toilet paper, like you get in a gas station or at a turnpike rest stop.

Kids are getting homeschooled, or going to school just a couple of days a week.  School openings are delayed. Schools are opening, then closing. College kids getting kicked out of school for attending a party. 

An outbreak from a wedding: the pastor shuns masks, he gathers his choir of long-skirted long-haired women and bearded men weekly in large gasping groups; the outbreak is associated with nearly 150 COVID cases and three deaths. 

Crazy times. But life goes on, with gorgeous late summer days, small careful gatherings, an election, fall harvest, and Halloween decorations. Those who can, work from home. We all hope for a safe and effective vaccine that will be free and widely available. Hoping and waiting for better times for all. 

Sound

Mostly, like now, it's quiet. Very very quiet. I can hear the faint whir of the propane refrigerator, the chirp of a bird, and... that is all. The loudest sound here is the chugging of the lobster boats. The boats head out around 5 am, about the time I like to wake up. They chug around the bay intermittently throughout the day and are mostly back around 2 pm. At least, that is how it's been this week. Maybe they go out and return around the same time every day, maybe their schedules change with the tides or the seasons; I don't know. I also don't know how they can set out in the damp opaque fog. If I were a lobsterfisherperson, I would want to wait for a sunny warm morning with long clear views.

Other noises here are seagulls calling, red squirrels chattering, and cormorants flapping as they take flight from the surface of the bay. It's quiet. I like quiet. Quiet is soothing, restful, and peaceful. Quiet is conducive to Reiki reflections.

There are lots of noises back at my house. The neighbors are bikers and have lots of biker friends and there is the blasting roar of Harleys at all hours. One day there was a biker funeral gathering. Without warning, 35 Harleys exploded up the street. Bikes and big loud pickup trucks parked all up and down the street, blocking driveways, mailboxes, and trash waiting for pickup. There were stacks of pizza boxes on tables on the front lawn. The mourners gathered in the middle of the street and on the lawn, sipping bottled beer and eating slices. The bikers I've spoken to have all been friendly and courteous. Other home noises are oil delivery trucks, fast loud cars, sirens, honking package and meal deliveries, and the hospital helicopter. Dogs bark all day, all evening, every day. None of that here. 

It was noisy the other night. There was a terrific storm with thunder, lightning, wind, and rain. A hard rain fell. The windows rattled, rain pounded on the roof and deck, the sky flashed with diffuse light, and all the rocking chairs on the deck pitched forward and back as if inhabited by frantic caffeinated ghosts. The windows streamed with rivulets, like being in a carwash. It seemed like I was in a boat, in a storm at sea. I looked across the bay and saw a pink sunset behind storm clouds. Above me, a tempest. 

It is quiet here. 

Bark

I was walking on a beach when I heard a bark. I turned around, expecting to see a dog. I did see a brown creature, and thought, briefly, that it was a large dog. It was a deer. It was four deer in a meadow. We watched each other for a while, then they continued to graze.

The beach was on an island, off another island; it was a two-bridge-island beach. I was the only human on the beach. COVID-19 dented the touristy influx, and drizzly 50-degree weather kept away the wise locals. So just me and the deer in the meadow. And the yellow rockweed, purple irises, large soft-edged slabs of pink granite, gray sky and waves, raucous crows, soaring seagulls, and bobbing daisies. The beach was U-shaped, with sand at the nadir of the U and pink granite sides. The spruce and pine forest came right down to the granite on one side, the other side was a bog and a long stretch of flat granite shoreline. There was a yellow boulder, shaped like a corn muffin. Lobster boats chugged past. The beach was a good place for buried thoughts to come bubbling up for inspection, but after four months of COVID isolation, I'm pretty much cleaned out of repressed memories and regrets.

Police Force -> Peace Force

Black Lives Matter.

What if we had a Peace Force instead of a Police Force? Officers would be educated on holding space instead of chokeholds. Officers would be educated on first aid, conflict resolution, recognizing symptoms of illness, anger management, Reiki, yoga, and meditation. Officers would hold their hands open for healing, instead of carrying sticks and guns. Officers would live in their communities and interact peacefully with citizens.

We need a Peace Force.

We also need systemic equality, income equality, clean air, green energy, more parks, and more education. We need Peace, not war, not a militarized police force. We need peace and love on our beautiful Earth.

Small Voice, by Roland Flint

Originally published in Dakotah Territory 3, 1972.
It was my dream, and I remember telling it to him, and I must have been 6 years old, maybe 5.

I came downstairs in the morning and he was there, in the kitchen.

So I told him and he wrote it down at least 10 years before it was published in Dakotah Territory.
I remember trying to remember the word for those green things- olives.

*
Roland Flint
Small Voice

All night long
we were in the refrigerator - -
Kate and you and I and
milk and eggs and
those green things - - olives, And
it was warm and we laughed and
then someone opened the door,

And afterward we were all angels.

Reiki is Do Nothing

When sharing Reiki in a hands-on or distance practice, do nothing. Be nothing, just be.

You might notice thoughts, visions, or impressions; let them float by. Don't try to block or pursue the thoughts; do nothing. Don't even share the thoughts with the client- your thoughts are your own, part of your own journey. Your client's thoughts, visions, and impressions are their journey. When sharing Reiki, you are a therapeutic presence for the client. Support their journey, not your own.

Be a therapeutic listener, a witness, and a nonjudgmental presence. Place your hands, fall into Reiki, and just be there. Do nothing.

Doing nothing is also doing everything. Use every bit of knowledge and experience. Apply ethical principles, support the client's insights, and be a kind loving presence. Do nothing and everything.

Pandemic Time

I have my routines. I walk at sunrise and go to bed when it gets dark. I wash sheets and towels on Sundays. I do New York Times puzzles every morning before answering emails, grading papers, and doing my own schoolwork.

I listen to our state CDC report every afternoon at 2 pm. It's on the radio. Our Dr. Shah is magnificent: calm, compassionate, intelligent, and patient.

Mostly though, time is fluid. I lose track of the time of day, the day of the week, the month, and sometimes even the season. Easy to lose track of the season when it snows in May.

The days go by slow; the days go by fast. 

Balance

How are you? Are you going in to work?  Did you lose your job and your health insurance? Live alone or have a houseful? Tough times for sure.

What are you doing to stay sane, balanced, and full of light?

Me, I walk every morning and then come home to a computer screen. I teach online, so online meetings, phone calls, and grading papers and essays electronically. I'm taking a class too. Face glued to screen all day, every day.

So I walk in the morning before work. Often I walk around a pond. It is still cold in the mornings, 30 degrees, sometimes snowing, sometimes raining.  I wear my winter jacket, hat, and gloves. Sometimes mist rises from the surface of the pond.

I saw the ducks return in the early spring. One day there were tiny ducklings. One morning there was roiling at the edge of the pond; koi were bubbling up out of the cold mud. Twisting and flashing bright orange pisces. Twice I've seen a shy Great Blue Heron. It startles, and with a leap and unfolding of big blue-gray wings, is airborne. It sees or hears me before I see it, so it startles me too. The father and uncle ducks have gleaming green heads and huddle protectively around the ducklings. There are fragrant blooming trees around the pond, magnolia and cherry. Yellow daffodils, pink phlox.

My morning walks keep me balanced.

Take a deep breath

I just sent distance Reiki to a client. It was a brief session. I cleared and prepared, then fell into the Reiki flow. I felt the pulse of universal life force energy. 

Then I saw dusty old black suitcases, like old baggage that needs to be cleared away. And I felt like I had to do a lot of deep breathing and clearing away of old energy. And my hands felt so heavy. Heavy and intense. My hands have never felt like that before. Like they were weighted down. I usually feel so light and full of love during a session. But this was dust and heaviness. 

If you are feeling discouraged or anxious, I hope that you will center yourself, clear away old baggage, and do some deep breathing exercises. Take a deep breath and puff it all out. Remember that you walk in the light. You are surrounded by love.

Fire Juggler and My Hot Hands

Fire Juggler (click) read My Hot Hands!

Digital Disruption

I wasn't sure that I could work from home. I love my sunny little office with desktop computer, coffee across the hall, and printer/scanner a few doors down. Work from home? I felt like a student who wants to take an exam in the same chair in which they listened to lectures. I didn't know if my knowledge, skills, and practices were portable. Could I think at home?

How could I accomplish the same work processes on a laptop, in my jammies, as I did on my work desktop, in my office, in my work clothes, surrounded by colleagues? Didn't I need things, people... those ... people and things I was used to? Could my mind make the switch?

Turns out: I could, no, and yes. Working at home is fine. I am able to access my files and documents from the work cloud. I have online and phone meetings with colleagues and students. I like working in yoga pants. I like the quiet of my house and neighborhood. My mind whirs away internally, dreaming, considering, thinking, and tuning out the external. Turns out I like working from home just fine.

Morning Walk

I am working from home, on a computer or a phone all day. I have online meetings, papers to grade online, and lots of emails. Face in screen all day.

So before work, I go for a walk. I often walk around a pond at sunrise. There are new ducklings this week, little balls of fluff. I am surprised at how fast they can swim. Mom is protective and hissed at me once when I got too close, marveling at the small ones. The uncles are protective too; the males gather in a circle around the ducklings when people walk by. A magnolia tree is loaded with floppy white blossoms. One morning I saw a Great Blue Heron.

Walk, work, work.... the days blend. What day is it? What time? Pandemic distancing and grey spring days, I lose track of time. But I take that walk nearly every morning.

Island Boy

For my grandsons

Island Boy

Read a Book...

Waves on a black sand beach 

Walking during a Pandemic

Because we are practicing physical distancing I have been working from home for six weeks. I go to the grocery store about every two weeks, and to an outdoor farmer's market nearly every Saturday.

The farmer's market is in a park on a tidal river waterfront. It is pleasant to walk through the park, sit on a park bench in the spring sun, and look at the water. We all wear cloth face coverings or masks. Vendors are spread about 20 feet apart and most have installed Plexiglas shield protectors. We wait in line at least six feet apart and pay with cards or place cash into a bucket. Cash sits for two weeks, the vendors tell us, before they recycle it as change.

I walk nearly every morning, between 5 and 7 am. This morning I walked at 5:30. There was mist on the pond, the sun rose in a lemon sky, and there were ducks. Last week I saw a Great Blue Heron on the pond. It heard me before I saw it, and leapt into the air, flapping its wide wings.

White Bird

I shared distance Reiki this morning and heard my neighborhood birds singing. I shared my silly, seemingly innocuous bird story with my Reiki client. I got a message back saying that during the time I was sharing Reiki with her, my client had a vision of holding a white bird in her hand.

Reiki is amazing.

Now you close your eyes. Imagine that a white bird is perched in your hand, singing. Just rest, breathe....

Morning Concert

I sent Reiki, distance Reiki. I placed one hand on my heart and lifted the other palm to the sky. I fell into the Reiki flow. Thoughts bubbled and drifted away. Then I heard birds. A cardinal trilled, a dove cooed, and a sparrow chirped. I felt the waves of Reiki, remembered the client, and heard the birds.

The birds stopped for intermission and I ended the session. Morning concert is over. Twenty-something degrees in Maine this morning. I had a nice walk around a pond at sunrise. Even in gloves my fingers ached with the cold. Now it's hot tea, a sunny window, birds, and Reiki. 

Wisdom from a Friend

If you really want to stomp your feet, then you should wear cowboy boots.

This was my friend's response to my story of a disgruntled coworker. So whether a temper tantrum or line dancing, wear cowboy boots. Or cowgirl boots.

Nurses Ask...

• Nurses' #1 request of public: Stay Home. 
• Nurses' #1 request of government: PPE. 
• Nurses' #1 fear: passing COVID-19 to their families. 
• Nurses' #1 objective: To interact with you intermittently to help you achieve your optimal health. 

Please stay home if you can, wash your hands, and write to your legislators; thank you. 

Pandemic 2020: COVID-19 

COVID-19 Daily Routine

I am grateful to have a job, grateful to be able to work from home. I have so much respect and compassion for my former students, who are immersed in caring for people who are ill in the midst of this pandemic. I am isolating, distancing, and trying to stay as healthy as possible.

I know of one person who likely has COVID-19; a nurse, ill with a flu-like illness, with a sudden loss of her sense of smell. She was not tested, as test kits are rationed and she is not in a "high-risk" group. She is a nurse, so I trust her self-diagnosis.

I hear from former students, bedside nurses, that they are angry and frightened. Their primary fear is bringing the virus home to their families. Their primary anger is at people who continue to gather, to recklessly engage in social contact. So far, they tell me, their supplies of personal protective equipment are adequate.

My new daily routine centers around work and walks. My old pattern was to go to my office and work seven days a week. I did this for the past two years: every day. I worked at my regular job and I worked on classes. In the past two years I helped to develop an RN-BSN program, earned a certificate in online teaching, and completed 10 courses towards an advanced degree. Now I am locked out of my office. I work from home. I walk in nature preserves and state parks. I shop at farmer's markets, and haven't been to the grocery store for two weeks. I work, walk, and work. I'm not saying that I'm bored, but I swept my garage. I cleaned my shower stall with a toothbrush; not the whole thing, the small cracks and corners. It snowed this week, a big dump of six inches or so. Spring sun melted most of it. I found a crocus yesterday, the first one. Seasons change.

COVID-19

As a bedside nurse I lived through the onset and evolution of AIDS. Scary times, lots of memories of those clients. As a bedside nurse, I developed germaphobe habits. I am fine with the social isolation, as a divorced introverted survivor I have lived with that for 15 years. I do find the numbers alarming - the coming deaths. The actual and expected incidence, prevalence, and mortality.

Also alarming, the job and financial losses. I have compassion for those who will suffer. For the ill and their families. Their fear.

I have tons of compassion for my former students who are now living with fear. Fear of transmitting the disease to their families. Fear of contracting the disease. Fear of going to work. Fear of working without proper protection (PPE). I am angry that the federal government is so completely bungling the crisis. Angry at the lack of supplies: PPE, ICU beds, and ventilators. Impatient with the stupid hoarding, denial, and racism.

I remember Dr. Anthony Fauci from the AIDS crisis. He did a wonderful job then and has re-emerged as a leader in the COVID-19 pandemic. Maine CDC and Maine Gov doing a fantastic job managing the crisis. For best info, see WHO, CDC, and NIH.

Best wishes for your optimal health. Connect with spirit. Love your neighbors - from  feet away. Wash your hands. Be well ~ Reiki Nurse

Connections

I hope you feel the gentle energy of Reiki. I hope you feel a sense of peace, of renewal. I hope you feel centered in yourself and connected to your spirit.

May I make a suggestion? Several times a day, stop and connect with your inner self. Check in with yourself. Notice your breath. Breath connects you with your environment. 

Be still and breathe. 

Be well ~ Reiki Nurse

Love in the time of pandemic

Be nice to the workers in the grocery store, they interact with panicked people.
Help a student, they were stressed anyway, now more so.
Cook a meal for a parent, they work and are caring for kids too.
Go for a walk with a nurse and listen. They need to vent.
Encourage sick people to get tested for COVID-19.
Wash your hands, eat vegetables, drink water.
Just for today, do not worry.
Just love.

Love a nurse

Support a nurse today. Send a message. Make a healthy meal, help with housework, babysit. Drop off chocolates, wine, pizza. Take a walk together and listen. Nurses are at bedsides, caring for you; your family, friends, and neighbors. Nurses are worried about becoming ill themselves and about bringing the virus home to loved ones. Nurses are brave. Love a nurse.

Social distancing

Pandemic. Isolation, working from home, quarantining, and social distancing. Introvert's paradise!

Campus is closed. I am working from home. I teach online anyway, but usually from my office on campus. So I grade papers, email students, read, work on the class I'm taking (finance and budgets), and do healthy life-balancing activities.

So man lives turned upside down.

Wishing strength and wellness for people all over the world.

Groceries

I went to the grocery store after work yesterday to pick up some pickles. People were streaming out of the store, loaded with stuff. One guy carried an armload of toilet paper, at least three dozen rolls. Carts were overflowing, and everyone had toilet paper and bottled water. Inside it was like the day before a blizzard, times ten. People were frantic; there was a sense of panic. I peeked into carts to see what essential items were being stockpiled. Soda, candy, beer, and TP. Everyone was buying TP.

The checkout lines were long. So glad we have cell phones to entertain ourselves while in line. So glad to get out of there and hope I don't have to go back any time soon.

Happy Valentine's Day

Have you ever shared Reiki with a couple? Reiki is a spiritual practice and a philosophy of life. Reiki is similar to prayer and meditation. I share distance Reiki using an app called fiverr, as mefk12

I request informed consent, the name of the person, and their general location on planet Earth. Then I share Reiki. It amazes me, and them, how powerful it is. After all these years practicing Reiki, the power and the practice still astound me.

I've been sharing Reiki via the fiverr app for several years. Recently I had a request to share Reiki with a couple. The potential client asked if I would or could do this. I was intrigued, and answered in the affirmative. Is this to be a Valentine's treat?

Dust Pigeons

Looking up, insomnia, notice dust on the edges of the ceiling fan blades. Get up, get a stepladder and some wipes, I clean the fan, fixture, and blades. How is it so dusty? The blades are loaded. Why doesn't the dust fly off when the fan is on? How does the dust get up there? Dust should stay on the floor where I can vacuum it up.

If dust under the bed is dust bunnies, then what is this? Dust pigeons.

Water

I read a meme the other day, said that empaths need to be near water.

Water. My favorite beverage. One of my favorite views. Ponds, waterfalls, icicles, puddles, rivers, marshes. Light shining through a breaking wave, pale green with a foamy white curling top. The miracle of a hot shower., the delight of a hot bath with lavender and rose petals. Hot chamomile tea. Bobbing and floating in the cold ocean on a hot summer day. Rinsing my hands in cold running water after a hands-on Reiki session to clear the energetic link. Attunements by the pond, attended by a symphony of turtles and frogs. The smell of rain. The sparkling brilliance of snow crystals on a sunny day, snowshoeing on a cliff above the bay. Water.

Tingles

I've been sending Reiki to a client with back pain*. I send at different times of day. I meditate, usually with my hand over my heart. Sometimes I extend my hand in the direction of the client's home. So I sent the other day, and emailed an update and warm wishes to the client.

The client emailed right back. Said they were working and had to stop because of tingles running up down and all around. Took the opportunity of the work break to check emails and found my message. The tingles occurred right when I sent Reiki.

The client reported no pain for the two days I sent Reiki. yay

*Some details altered/obscured to protect client's privacy