Life as I know it, is no longer life as I knew it.
Until lately I had been living an existence where:
On Sundays and Mondays I ran my own little skincare practice in East Sac.
On Tuesday mornings I taught a 9 am yoga class at Serenity Spa in Folsom and then gave facials for Asha Urban Baths in the afternoon/evening.
On Wednesdays I taught at East Sac fit at 9 am, the Urban Hive at 10:30 am, gave 15 min zen services to clients at A Therapeutic Alternative 3 pm-5 pm, and taught another class at East Sac fit at 6 pm.
The 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month I helped set up/break down for Ecstatic Dance and would dance my being free for two straight hours.
Fridays and Saturdays I was a free bird.
As I knew it, as my handwritten calendar so confidently said it would be, all of a sudden it no longer was.
Everything above fully unraveled in 5 days time, and words/terms that I never really had on my radar or grappled with before started to become mainstream like: Pandemic, Quarantine, Social Distancing
First signs of change were when the bigger gatherings in April and May shut down.
Bye, bye, Lucidity.
See ya later Lightning in a Bottle.
Then the Ecstatic Dance in Sacramento pulled the plug, and soon to follow the one in L.A.
By now businesses started addressing the virus and alerting us of new measures being taken on the sanitation front to keep everyone safe.
You could sense people scrambling to stay in the game as the rules shifted quickly, informing us a day later they would still be open, but restricted hours and less people would be allowed inside at once.
Within 12 hours of implementing adjusted hours one by one each business retracted the previous email and put a temporary closure email out in its place.
Goodbye restaurants, goodbye gym, goodbye yoga studio, goodbye dentist appointment, goodbye clients, goodbye students, goodbye normal trips to the grocery store.
SPOOKY.
What is most alarming to me, even though in some ways it can be considered comforting, is the word TEMPORARY.
You might think, “Silly girl! Temporary, that is a good thing.”
But I am sitting over here attempting not to feel haunted every time I let my mind wander.
Why?
Because temporary is illusive.
It’s a crumb.
It’s bait.
Bait to keep the people hopeful.
Bait to keep the people believing.
Bait to keep the people calm.
Bait to curb the panic.
Temporary insinuates lack of permanence but lack of permanence does not imply that something will shift quickly. So in the case of this pandemic its important to realize that in no way shape or form does the word temporary imply or guarantee that these closures will be short term.
Fuck temporary.
I guess I feel so strongly about this because I (along with countless others) have some pretty tough choices to make based on an illusive timeline where:
you don’t know,
I don’t know,
NONE OF US REALLY KNOW just how long it will be.
So many variables.
How long do I pay rent on a skin care studio when I can’t practice skin in it?
How long do I stay in an apartment that will gobble up my whole savings in 4-5 months time?
When do I start pulling plugs? And which plugs do I pull??
As I previously said,
life as I know it, is no longer as I knew it.
In this moment I feel relatively neutral about it all.
So much is out of my control.
So much is out of yours.
Its been 5 days since the last closure, 10 days since the unravel began and I have put into play some adjustments.
I have been aiming to be in a head space of acceptance, surrender, and trust. (emphasis on aiming)
My quickest and biggest adaptation thus far has been I started to stream live yoga classes on Instagram from my bedroom.
I have been asked to provide online offerings in the past and never really felt called, but heck we’re livin’ in a post-COVID-19 world and quarantine will make a human do some unexpected things, hah.
Is there a better time to fully expose yourself and be vulnerable LIVE with anyone who may care to tune in?
Through the uncertainties so many beautiful silver linings have been shining into my days.
Clients investing in future services for their friends, for themselves!! Wow- I mean what a gesture.
My friends from all over the world are able to tune into my movement offerings.
I can literally feel the love and support globally, thank you.
I am so grateful.
Sure, I still have some choices to make, and temporary isn’t my favorite word, but it is what it is.
We can resist, or we can re-calibrate.
Humbled, honored and at peace to be re-calibrating with all of you.
Thanks for tuning in,
Love,
Karissa
Karissa did that. 