COVID-19 Provides Us an Opportunity to Focus on What’s Truly Important

Do you remember when we were deep in quarantine? There was a time in quarantine where my husband, Chris and I, would go for daily walks through the forest at one of the local State Parks. At the peak of quarantine, there was a moment on one of our walks that we noticed all the benches were full. People, everywhere, were simply sitting on benches in the cold overlooking the trees, staring into nothingness.

I said to Chris, “It’s like we are in a massive Vipassana sit.”

Of those that have been reading my work for some time know that I partake in an annual 10-day silent Vipassana meditation retreat. The term translates to, “see things as they really are” and was the form of meditation the Buddha used to reach enlightenment.

In these retreats, there are no phones allowed, no reading, no writing, no speaking for ten days with up to ten hours of meditations a day amid a group of strangers. This respite is the hardest thing I have ever done and equally, the best gift I give myself. This year would have been my seventh year.

“This may very well be the best thing for society,” I followed.

The tragedies of this pandemic are not taken lightly in this comment. Humans are resilient beings and survivors. As a natural optimist, I am…