Whenever I start a new blog entry, my mind is often blank for many long minutes. The very act feels self indulgent, self centred, egotistical. It has, however, grown to be a source of comfort to me over the years, much like the diary I used to write in occasionally as a child. Initially I started my blog ten years ago to record and trace my travels and experiences of a year long solo trip around the world and share those moments with my family and a handful of friends. I see now that it has shifted more into the realm of a record, a personal peek into me and where I am at on this life journey, as much as it is a travel log .. blog. I read between my own lines lol 🙄 for clarity of thought. In many ways, I feel I have returned to the diary of my youth.

So … the Coronavirus …. I don’t even like capitalizing that pesky germ riddled word!! Yes, I am most definitely feeling testy on day eleven in the midst of solo isolation! That tiny highly contagious little germ has taken our planet Earth captive in a way no one could have predicted just one short month ago! The impact of that continues to ruminate around in my head … yes, lots of time for thinking now. Invariably, it is a gift in disguise, one that we can all learn from. Not quite there yet, but working on it 🙄!

Surprisingly, despite having eerily realistic dreams most nights, I have been sleeping better than I have in years. A welcome by-product and yes, a small gift during this global pause. What I deeply and intensely dislike about the uninvited, the unwelcome coronavirus guest bringing to our table however, is this distancing from family, from friends. At a time when we all need each other for human comfort, we are told to stay apart. A grandmother … that would be me and millions of others, advised by our government that we should not see our grandchildren, healthy as we all might be. How can we possibly be infecting each other, all sequestered in a house, away from the masses, away from public places?? Paranoia Patty seems to be taking over the global mind! So many seem riddled with fear, common sense appearing to have jumped ship altogether! Stay tuned … rumination eventually turns into words … see what day twelve brings in revisions to this blog entry.

“If you can’t go outward, go inward” …. on that note, my yoga, meditation and chanting routine beckons … keeps me sane in a world seemingly gone insane.