130: The New Normal

Here in London we're coming the end of the first week of lockdown as the world responds to the coronavirus pandemic and, like millions of others across the globe, we're wondering together about what to make of this time. And there are choices about how to relate to the experience of confinement and physical distance - choices that are marked by our willingness to not add unnecessary suffering to our own and others' lives; choices that are shaped by our willingness to include both what's beautiful and what's frightening or grief-filled. A conversation about stepping with full hearts into constraint, with Lizzie Winn and Justin Wise of Thirdspace.

This is Turning Towards Life, a weekly live 30 minute conversation hosted by Thirdspace in which Justin Wise and Lizzie Winn dive deep into big questions of human living. Find us on FaceBook to watch live and join in the lively conversation on this episode. We’re also on YouTube, and as a podcast on Apple, Google and Spotify. You can find videos of every episode, and more about the project on the Turning Towards Life website.

Here's our source for this week, written for us by Lizzie:

The New Normal.

The warm sun on my face, the cool breeze on my ankles.
My babe asleep on my chest, her breath so gentle -
like the smallest of waves on the shore.

Thank you for surrendering to this, he says.
Thank you for being willing to let this be enough. For now.
We can suffer this, or we can let it become our normal.

So we bake a cake. And I clean the door handles.
And we have a cuppa tea. And cook dinner.
We watch the baby girl sleeping. And say thank you.

By Lizzie Winn
Vesper’s Mummy
Vesper is 22 weeks - March 24, 2020

Photo by Kira auf der Heide on Unsplash