From “Love in the Time of Corona” by Laura Aversano

April 9, 2020

Dear Coronavirus,

This past week has been incredibly intense and overwhelming in so many ways.

I've been excited to see the myriad of miracles you have been providing us with lately. More so than when we first met your acquaintance.

I am hearing the laughter of children again, oh how they radiate such innocent joy in times of despair. Spending more time with mommy and daddy, and siblings too.

Learning, embracing, feeling, hugging. I can't begin to tell you how many hugs you have ignited in our world. Even if some of those are virtual hugs at the moment, the love is so palpable my heart is bursting at the seams.
Hugs within families, hugs between strangers, hugs which cross boundaries we once had that defined our separateness.

So many hugs I honestly want to share one with you Corona.

You are brilliant in the ways that you have brought families closer, strangers are no longer strangers. Mothers are looking into the eyes of their children with presence and fathers are tenderly nurturing what has been long forgotten.

Where walls once stood there are flowers blossoming everywhere!

You are teaching us so much about appreciation when much of what most of us lived by was entitlement.

I don't know how to contain my heart and my gratitude for your presence.
Your friend,

Laura Aversano

From “Exposed” by Sherri Mitchell, Weh’na Ha’mu Kwasset, Penobscot Nation

As I’ve searched for myself within the Coronavirus, I’ve seen a kaleidoscope of images that have led me back to our most ancient stories and some of our most lingering questions: Will we as a species make the changes necessary to move back into alignment with life, or will we continue following the path of destruction that leads to our extinction? Can we find our compassion for our relatives in the natural world and Mother Earth? Can we disengage our minds and our lives from the illusions of the material world and recognize that true wealth can only be measured through our support of one another? I believe we can, if we follow the guidance that is being given to us at this time.

The Coronavirus is providing us with a map for exploring our individual lives and our collective choices. By tracing the path that it offers, we can begin to understand the powerful lessons it has to teach us.

The first point on the map is exposure. This pandemic is exposing all the blind spots in our social lens. Many have claimed that this illness is the great equalizer; I disagree. There is no equity in access to shelter, water, food, or healthcare during this time. More than anything, this virus is highlighting the gross inequities and injustices within our societies. It’s washing away the failing systems that we thought were foundational and showing us where our solid ground can truly be found.

After exposure comes incubation. As we collectively work to slow exposure to the virus by sheltering in place, we have an amazing opportunity to incubate our creative intelligence and deeper knowing. How we choose to occupy ourselves during this time of isolation is a predictor for how we will emerge. The things we focus on, the ways that we choose to entertain or occupy ourselves, the need that we have to distract ourselves, are all indicators of how we will surface from our shelters. If we can take advantage of this time and truly slow down our internal rhythms, let down the armor we have been required to don, and open ourselves us, we can incubate our individual creation songs and our collective genius. The opportunity that we have to incubate our creative intelligence is filled with possibilities. This is a time for identifying and aligning with our deepest truths and bringing forward the dormant gifts that lay sleeping within us.

Once we discover the sparks of insight that live within our center, we must fan those sparks to flame. This is where the intense heat of fever is found on our Corona map. Here, we conduct a controlled burn of the debris that has covered our fertile ground. We burn off all the invasive plants (thoughts and ideas adopted from an outside source) and eliminate the local growths that don’t belong there (family programming). A controlled burn can prevent a total burn out, it can rejuvenate what is already there and protect the native habitat (your natural state of being). And, it encourages new growth.

As we move deeper into fever, we begin experiencing respiratory distress. On the psychospiritual level our lungs are the holders of our grief. Here, we deal with the pain of all that’s been lost. What we’ve lost in the world - vital ecosystems, essential habitat, thousands of species, clean water. Then, we must look at what has been lost within us - our connection to the source of life, our compassion for our relatives in the natural world, our relationship with Mother Earth, and our willingness to care for one another.

We must grieve the loss of friends and family members, those we are separated from while in isolation and those being taken from us permanently by the virus. And, finally, we must grieve our lost way of life, which will no longer serve us going forward.

This grieving process is the beginning of our letting go. I find it intriguing that a key component of letting go is to create physical distance from what you want to release. On a global scale, we have been positioned for this work. There is an incredibly powerful message in that. Now, we must decide what we are willing to release.