Minisode

What Do We Carry Forward?

We recorded this minisode during the COVID-19 quarantine and discuss the question, “What from this time are you looking to carry forward?” 

Quarantine Check-Ins

Gill has been in strict lockdown with her husband, Brian, in Barcelona since the second week of March. Some days it seems like it’s been going on forever, others that it’s speeding by because all the days feel the same. Brian compares it to a Navy deployment (but together and with better food and drinks) and has been very Zen about it all – excellent person to be in lockdown with. Workdays are usually harder, with more anxiety and trouble focusing – split between gratitude for having work right now and not wanting to do anything.

Melia and her family are starting Week 7 of sheltering in place. It’s been incredibly challenging to try to work from home with a spirited 6-year-old and 3-year-old. It’s better since they stopped trying to homeschool and just let the kids be. Weekends are better than weekdays for her, too, when she isn’t trying to work and can focus more on the kids.

What from this time are you looking to carry forward?

A good friend asked this in Gill’s group text a few weeks ago, and she’s been thinking about it ever since and wrote about it in our latest newsletter. We like the way the question is phrased, because although none of us knows what exactly the “after this” will look like, we can set our intentions about the lessons and practices we’ll carry forward with us.

  • Gill:
    • Doing less / feeling less pressure to be productive all the time
      • Unscheduled time to do whatever (sometimes that’s just sitting outside and reading a book or doing a slow cooking project or very little at all)
    • Being intentional about connecting with loved ones in small ways, like texts, or bigger lifts, like scheduled Zoom calls
    • Exercise and meditation 
    • Being honest about how she’s feeling / doing – and checking in with others
  • Melia: 
    • Sleep and exercise are non-negotiables, the foundation for everything else.
    • Being gentle with herself, endlessly compassionate and forgiving.
    • Have less stuff so she uses the important stuff.
    • Doing the thing while she can, not assuming that it will be possible tomorrow

Get In Touch

What from this time are you looking to carry forward? Email us at podcast[at]semitogether.com or send us a voice memo. And sign up for our e-newsletter to stay in the loop during our upcoming break from full episodes.

Resources

Man Not Sure Why He Thought Most Psychologically Taxing Situation Of His Life Would Be The Thing To Make Him Productive, from The Onion

Untamed, by Glennon Doyle