I noticed it as my son’s teacher pulled up their classroom Zoom call: we saw his classroom, and it looked cheerful and happy. Then it happened. As she held up a markerboard, her whole arm disappeared like something from a science fiction movie. The background was only virtual. It hit my heart with the feeling of, “I’m looking right at you, and I don’t even know where you are.”
In this quarantine, when we only see each other virtually or on social media, the divide between what is really happening and how things appear is growing. If we keep posting pictures on our porches in our nicest sweatpants and best messy bun, presenting that as how this quarantine is really going, that divide only grows.
We can’t live authentically until we open the door to what is going on in our hearts…take some time to take inventory of who we actually are and what is really happening. What’s behind that gal all showered up and in her best sweatpants? What makes her heart sing? What does she dream about? What fires her up?
If we keep putting up the facades, we will find ourselves in a spot where we don’t even remember anymore. We may have been moving through life so quickly we haven’t taken the time to assess that the first person we may need to take down the background for…is ourselves.
In my decade of yes’s, I ran so hard and found myself running towards everything I didn’t care a thing about. Maybe that’s you. What is consuming your days? It may be what supports your family, and perhaps that can’t change, but how can you weave what makes your heart sing back into your life again?
It might start with the basics. As I began playing tennis with my kids again, I remembered how much I like to hit a tennis ball. It may start with some simple things. Keep digging.
I love the “Made For This” guide. It will take you back through different stages of your life and allow you to identify what made your heart sing during those different periods of time. I was surprised at what it teased out in my own heart. When I started to trace those things back, I could look at my life and say, “Oh, there you are. That’s the girl I once knew.”
If this time has started to pull away some of your joy, find what makes your heart sing. Consider what dreams you have been pushing down. Invite your heart to sing again. You were made for something more, and as we begin to live authentically together, we will find we were made for this.
HLLF,
