
My house quarantine probably started at least two weeks before COVID-19 reached our area of the world. I had some sort of weird cold and then a painful, twisted ankle/foot from a fall in my studio. When I injured myself, one of my dogs came over to comfort me, and I happily reached out to pet her fluffy neck, suddenly realizing that it had been freshly rolled in one of her favorite doggie perfumes, better known as “some other dog’s crap”. I was momentarily struck with a hysterical laughter mixed with pain-endued tears.
Fast forward three weeks into what would have just been another, lovely Spring day with a high pollen count, and life has morphed us all into a full-blown, science fiction movie of pandemic proportions. So much has happened in such a short time.
Clearly, we are seeing this crisis unfold each day with eye-opening changes, starting with the canceled Houston rodeo, to the canceling of all other public events, then quickly followed by the closing of restaurants, bars and gyms. Most museums, galleries and stores have also closed their doors, as we are being asked to stay home and practice social distancing. We are all a bit stunned, anxious, and even fearful, while many of us are still looking for toilet paper. Who knew?
Soon after I injured my foot, I was reminded by a friend that I was being given this chance to rest, heal, and to nurture myself. Indeed in astrology, March of 2020 was showing itself to be a time for all of us to do so, however that looked to each of us individually. Now it is clear that on a large-scale, collective level, this is even more profound.
We are being given a chance to slow down, to see what is important, what is not, and how we will or will not adapt to our fast-changing world. It is an awakening, an opportunity, difficult as it may seem, to make our world a better, more sustainable place for all life on the planet. But still, it is a bit scary. How long will this take, and what will cripple us the most; the virus or the state of the world economy?

It will not be life as we once knew it. We will need to embrace this with all of our collective minds and hearts. Of course, most of us will get through this and carry on with our lives with some sense of sanity and the new, yet-to-be-discovered normal, but the repercussions from such a world wide event is beginning to dawn on many of us, and it’s not hard to see that it’s going to be a staggering journey.
Our true test is in the coming weeks and months, as many will be sick, some will die, and those of us left to start anew will need to be ever more present, more caring, more resilient, inventive and definitely more connected to each other with a very real sense of love.
I am not sure any of us can say how this will actually play out, but in the aftermath, I see us changing the paradigm, making a new life, and not settling for the destructive practices of our old selves. I have hope for humanity, for most of us meeting this challenge and evolving to a higher vibration that will bring more balance and harmony, restoring our memory of who we really are. We are the guardians of our planet. We are love.