THREE THINGS I LEARNED DURING LOCKDOWN

If your experience of the pandemic has been anything like mine, you’ll have had plenty of time to observe your own reactions to feeling invisible, disembodied, disconnected from the external world. The isolation has been a shock, and yet also an invitation to explore our inner world. I would like to share with you three of the (many) things I learned during lockdown.

I am a perfectionist. Every day I have come up against questions like… Where does my energy direct itself when there is no one to see the results? Do I still feel the same passion for telling stories, or do I just like to introduce myself as a storyteller? In the midst of this intimate conversation with myself, I discovered that I am a terrible perfectionist, and that this way of being was in its own way keeping me isolated, even before the pandemic began.

I want to live a life deeply connected to the natural world, as well as to human beings. You’ll also have had plenty of time to think about your priorities in life. I discovered how much I long to see myself through the eyes of the wider world, and not just the human world. I want to live surrounded by nature and humanity simultaneously, without separating the two; I discovered that one will never be enough without the other, and that screens can never replace either of two.

Telling our stories is vital for re-establishing these connections. I have had one or two opportunities to tell stories live during the pandemic; those few occasions have shown me how important it is for us to sit together to tell our tales, as we always have done.

Reading myths and ancient stories, I was able to feel close once again to some essence of humanity which is never lost. Writing was a way to unburden myself and see through the mists of the mind with a bit more clarity. (Anyone who attended the open event for South American Book Day last month will have heard me talking about this!) In my writing exercises (in which I oblige myself to write for ten minutes without pausing to think) the same words emerged over and over again:

Resilience. Reverence. Compassion.

This is why the Honeyweavers project cannot be put off any longer… despite my internal perfectionist who shouts and screams and looks for excuses not to reveal herself to the world. Human beings have always been tellers of stories; now it is more important than ever that we do so, on our way to re-establishing those connections for which we have yearned during the pandemic.

This is why I am so excited to welcome you to the Honeyweaver community.

‘We are all made of stories here…’

#HoneyWavers