How are we to make sense of our hearts when we can’t make any sense of the world outside our window which has altered and, that too, all so suddenly? We are a generation raised on targets and goals, but the empty office spaces and football stadiums and cinema theatres...
...that we once so freely inhabited have thrown many of us into a state of limbo that has spiralled beyond our control. But it’s okay. It’s okay if you’re not being productive, it’s okay if you’re not creating, it’s okay if you’re not using this time ‘wisely’...
...it’s okay if you’re just being... surviving, surrendering, reflecting. It is okay, it is okay... it is really okay. Because this isn’t a vacation or a writer’s retreat, and we are not all right, no matter what we tell ourselves.
Last month, I threw a book on the floor in frustration, almost damaging its spine. Five months ago I'd have never excused myself for such an unhinged reaction. But what this pandemic has taught a lot of us is that we must become kinder, not just to the world but to ourselves.
Today I ask for forgiveness from that book. And I forgive myself. That's been my biggest takeaway from this time, the lesson to be kinder to yourself. There's no other way to build a kinder, more generous and forgiving world. And there's no other kind of world worth living in.
