Multiple experiences and conversations have led me to question so much about society and our boundaries of late. I have seen people stop to chat only 1 to 2 feet apart. I have seen people touch things in my yard as they walk by.
There are so many people who are not safe with the current disrespect for boundaries happening every time someone comes within 6 feet of someone not in their social distancing group (i.e. household, family, etc.). There are also so many people who are not safe being secluded in a social distancing group with particular members of their family or household.
The following people have every right to be angry right now:
- First responders
- Health care professionals including those who clean and otherwise staff and service healthcare facilities
- Workers in the grocery and the food supply chain
- Delivery people
- Public transit workers
- Military
- Social service workers who protect children, abused people, elderly people and intellectually or physically challenged people who cannot care for themselves
- People who attend true emergency situations with such things as natural gas, plumbing, electricity, and building safety
- People at higher risk of respiratory complications
Anyone who physically associates within 6 feet of someone outside of their physical distancing group is putting these necessary workers at greater risk than they already are. By the time they get sick there may not be enough resources to save their lives because people unnecessarily got too close and infected one another.
At the same time, there are many children at serious risk of abuse, malnutrition and neglect. There are many abused partners who are in horribly dangerous situations right now. There are many people with serious mental illness who are struggling like never before. There are many people facing financial insecurity they never believed possible. These are all horribly true things which could all be life threatening.
The decisions are all so complicated. There are no easy answers. But meditation may help you find the right answer for you and your social distancing group.
Today we meditate on how your choices about boundaries keep both you and others safe.
For meditation today:
- Find a comfortable position.
- Notice your breath and begin to lengthen your inhales and exhales. Work towards the diaphragmatic breathing previously taught.
- Trace the external boundary of your body.
- Trace the boundary of your internal pathways.
- Notice your perimeter boundary allowing only highest frequency love to reach you.
- Sit in this space and ask yourself with as much gentle, compassionate love possible, how am I called to create healthy boundaries for myself and others in this time of social distancing? Notice any answers that may come to you now during meditation or through the course of the day.