I would like to start again with a story. The other day my partner and I woke up to clear, sunny skies and set out on a long walk that turned into a hike through a regional park in the area. The sun beat down on our backs incessantly, and without any other hikers around we were given the luxury of removing our cloth face masks for a few glorious minutes.

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As I mentioned in my previous post, when it’s spring and it reaches the big 6-0 in Minnesota everyone is outside! So, it was quite a treat to walk through the forest with only birds as our backdrop and the endless pines. We even ended up pulling out a blanket and a lawn chair and sprawling out in our small backyard for a happy hour before the sun set.

Skip ahead to Sunday and it was a totally different scenario. Flurries, gusty wind, less than 30 degrees blanketed by a grey sky. At least we had no plans or places to be. But, still. Ugh. It was a cold, snowy day that made you feel more like all the spring/summer clothes you pulled out of your closet less than 24 hours ago was a total waste of time, not to mention that it seemed yesterday was 30 days ago!

Now, I don’t bring up the drastic shift in weather just to complain about it (even though I’ve been told this is talent among those who live in the Midwest 😉).

It struck me that the extreme change in looking outside my window from one singular event, along with the feelings that came with that change, felt so familiar to the situation we find ourselves in today during these “quarantimes.”

Life looks different.

Life sounds different.

Life feels different.

Life is different.

Life is a bit more anxiety-filled/uncertain/ [insert your choice feeling word here] than it used to be.

This week I turned to places and people and ideas that bring me comfort to find a bit of solace in this strange, new way of life we are currently in. Just like “comfort food” evokes a certain kind of ease that is both soothing and nostalgic, so do songs, conversations and practices.  Here’s the dose of “comfort food for the soul” I found myself savoring this week:

Comfort Listens

Music – My go to artist this week has been Chastity Brown. Her work is a wide range of melancholy, joy and quiet contemplation. Also, she is a local artist based out of Minneapolis with roots in Tennessee.

And, this! It is nearly impossible not to have the infectious joy (the good kind of contagious, mind you) rub off on you from listening to Coldplay’s Tiny Desk Concert featuring the Harlem Gospel Choir.

Podcast – “Home Cooking” podcast hosted by Samin Nosrat and Hrishi Hirway

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I recently discovered this podcast after watching Samin’s limited series on Netflix called Salt Fat Acid Heat. I thoroughly enjoyed “Home Cooking” for two reasons, first because who doesn’t want to hear about useful ways to use beans or lentils or rice and make it taste delicious? Second, Samin and Hrishi are down to earth and just plain fun to listen to. In the first episode, “Bean There, Done That” they spend a pretty significant amount of time answering questions from listeners who want help figuring out how to use split peas in a soup other than “split pea and ham” and are trying to find ways to get creative with what they have already in their cupboard. I love their fun, down to earth and no frills approach to cooking. You can check out the website and episodes for their podcast here.

There’s also a handful of other podcasts I’ve been finding a lot of joy out of that I wrote about in an earlier blog post you can check out here as well.

Comfort Mind/Body/Spirit Practice

A few things I kept coming back to in this past week:

a) During regular times, folks are often too hard on themselves. Especially now, it is so easy to be hard on oneself for the ways these quarantimes have interrupted new year’s resolutions, goals and plans in general.

b) I am no exception!

c) Now, is a pretty good time as any to try to be a bit kinder, a bit gentler, a bit more forgiving to yourself

So, I decided to go on little meditative walk with the help of a Labyrinth.

For those unfamiliar with labyrinths, according to The Labyrinth Society, “a labyrinth is a meandering path [often in a circular design shape] with a singular path leading to the center.” Labyrinths have been used across religious and secular traditions for “personal, psychological, and spiritual transformation”.

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As I stood at the center of the Labyrinth and looked around I noticed the sounds of the birds in the nearby trees.

They kept making music, kept watching, kept listening, kept living, anyways*. In spite of all the chaos and destruction and death in the world around them. Instead of tuning out, they kept tuning in to those around them in need. Instead of hoarding and fighting over food, they fed those around them and trusted there would be enough for everyone.

“Wow”, you might say, “that’s a heck of a lot to gather just by listening to some birds and going on a walk”.

And, I would say in reply, “Yes, yes it is”. But, maybe we need a little more sensitivity to the world around us right now. Maybe we would all do a bit better, be in a better mood, and be a bit kinder to ourselves, if we did.

May we all be as brave as the birds we listen to.

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To find a labyrinth near you visit the World-Wide Labyrinth locator here.

*The sentence above (and this blog post) was largely inspired by a sermon on Easter Sunday by Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Rev. Michael Curry. His sermon “It’s Easter, anyways” can be found here