Back to Normal?
This is a common question I hear from clients who have developed a serious illness. For some, "normal" means returning to an 80-hour work week. For others, "normal" means juggling a job, raising children and managing unhealthy relationships - or eating whatever they want without considering the effect of certain foods on their bodies. I remember one woman complaining that she could no longer eat a McDonald’s fish sandwich or macaroni and cheese without experiencing a storm of symptoms. This was the normal she wanted to return to.
Although we all ask this question when we're not feeling well, there is much we can learn from illness - to slow down and take better care of ourselves, to eat a healthier diet, perhaps cutting out things like sugar, gluten, dairy and alcohol in exchange for feeling better. Some clients who have learned the lessons of an illness say they don't want to go back to their old way of working, eating and living because they feel these patterns were making them sick.
Illness in the body is a signal that something is out of balance. Chronic stress - long-term overwork, poor eating habits, toxic relationships, etc. - can weaken the system and allow dormant issues to come forward or new conditions to get started. The lesson in maintaining our individual health is always to look deeper - at the whole picture of a person's life and experience - and do our best to address the elements that are out of alignment.
Like many of us, our planet is sick because of our way of living - too much waste, greed, pollution and destruction of natural resources. At this moment, we are putting all of our attention on eliminating a virus that has surfaced, but this effort will mean very little in the long run if we do not explore what's out of balance with our planet. What must we change to create equilibrium in our own lives, in our communities, in nature?
Our aim should not be to return to pre-pandemic life and business as usual. Now is the time for those who understand the deeper imbalances in our world - who have a different vision for the future - to speak, to step up and lead the way into a new, healthier "normal." If you have recovered from a serious illness by making profound personal changes, you know that the work of healing is not political, moral or ethical. It is the work of survival.
5 Responses
Cynta
I want to update my comment about the use of the essence set while actively exposed to the virus as a nurse. I stated that some died-no nurses died. There were a couple of hospital workers who died but not nurses.
Many nurses were ill and indeed still recovering but it’s my belief that the immune systems of those giving direct care were stimulated by the challenge of the virus and their devotion to Service.
This belief is supported by the new evidence that protesters in close proximity did not have a higher rate of virus than others who didn’t go to protests. Did anyone consider the healing effect of uniting their auras for a “ higher purpose”, or the immune-stimulating benefits of speaking their truth?
I think not.
Sadly, it was the family members of the care-givers who were sickest, those of immigrant cultures namely, who live physically close with family and parents.
Many are bearing some painful burden of “ giving” the virus to more vulnerable family members.
I offer these comments with love and sympathy to my co-workers.
Cynta Quinn
Thanks David for offering up the essences at the time you did, which both Justin and I have been taking faithfully and so far so good. Many many stories of my nurse co-workers getting sick, recovering, not all recovered yet as it takes a long time, and sadly some die.
I’m lucky that I don’t need to be in the hospital full-time, and I have good health, and good practices, among other things.
I live in the natural world as much as I can, surrounded by beauty. How blessed I am!
Sam
I used to say about a previous marriage “I want my old life back, even if I was miserable.” I think it comes down to the comfort in sameness. I don’t like it when things feel out of my control, a global pandemic, for instance. But it’s true that each of our actions and decisions are things that we do to ourselves/for our selves, and in kind, to our communities, and the planet.
My most recent mantra is “I choose happiness” which might be attributed in part to and old friend and healer, Michelle Gallant, who is no longer with us. It’s a subtle little thing that can help redirect my attention to what actually makes me happy. It doesn’t mean that I’m always going to be happy, but it helps to center me and remind me of what I need to pay attention to.
Don Miguel Ruiz says if we seek to find our happiness through others, it will always be broken at some point.
Thanks, David, Thanks flowers, Thanks essences! We will all heal!
Sam
Courtney Lee Hall
So beautifully stated. Healing is the continuous work of healthy self-communication and allowing ones light to pour back out into the world 🙏
Becki Cook
Thank You David for helping the world re member. Each individual creates the whole
Your life’s work is needed more then ever before.
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David Dalton
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