Languishing

As scientists and physicians work to treat and cure the physical symptoms of long-haul COVID, many of us are struggling with the emotional long-haul of the pandemic. 

This is called Languishing -  a sense of stagnation and emptiness. It feels as if we're muddling through our days, looking at our life through a foggy windshield. 

According to experts languishing is the neglected middle child of mental health. It’s the void between depression and flourishing, the absence of well-being. 

Languishing dulls our motivation, disrupts our ability to focus, and triples the odds that we'll cut back on work. 

The term was coined by a sociologist named Corey Keyes, who was struck that many people who weren't depressed also weren't thriving.

Part of the danger is that when we're languishing, we might not notice the dulling of delight or the dwindling of drive. We don’t catch ourselves slipping slowly into solitude; we're indifferent to our indifference. 

So folks it could give us a socially acceptable response to “How are you?”

Instead of saying “Great!” or “Fine,” imagine if we answered, “Honestly, I’m languishing.” 

"Inch by inch I conquered the inner terrain I was born with.

Bit by bit I reclaimed the swamp in which I'd languished. I gave birth to my infinite being, but I had to wrench myself out of me with forceps."

— Fernando Pessoa

Seal Cave in New Zealand 
Chairs in the Wilderness

Deja Vu Sensations

There are many theories as to what causes déjà vu.

One says that our "spirit" can actually travel faster in time than our earthbound bodies so it charges off into the future from time to time for reasons we can't explain.

Another claims that it's because we are reincarnated and old memories from past lives are seeping through into our current consciousness.

And then there's the parallel Universe theory that suggests our lives are always splitting off into different directions whenever we make big decisions and that at the point of experiencing déjà vu we are connecting with these parallel worlds.

All of which rather ignores the actual sensation of déjà vu that is simply joyous and mesmerising regardless of what it actually is.

Déjà vu experiences stay with us too, logging themselves into our memory banks where they can be withdrawn whenever those "déjà vu" conversations occur, usually over a few glasses of wine late at night!


"There's an opposite to déjà vu. They call it jamais vu. It's when you meet the same people or visit places, again and again, but each time is the first. Everybody is always a stranger. Nothing is ever familiar."
~~ Chuck Palahniuk

Visiting Norway in July 2010 and we stopped at this place for a short while, an eeriness came over me as I photographed this scene. I wanted to hop in that boat and paddle into the mist.

Back to the Future - Our New Normal 2021

Time travellers should prepare for tough sledding. If you went back to 1820 or even 1920, all the sudden changes would discombobulate you. And the same is true for someone who came forward to today.

We’ve got a deep-seated desire for things to go back to normal, the way we were used to.

But this, this moment of ours is now normal.

For now.

And then, there will be another normal.

There is no “the new normal”. Because that’s definitive.

There’s simply the normal of now.

A new normal. This too shall pass.

“We sense that ‘normal’ isn’t coming back, that we are being born into a new normal: a new kind of society, a new relationship to the earth, a new experience of being human.”
― Charles Eisenstein

Perceived Infinity -Wyong, NSW, Australia 2015

Off Centre

I've spent much of my life walking down the centre of the road.

I tell myself it's important to be safe. Security comes first.

It's a hard cruel world, so I'd better play it safe now than be sorry later.

Fools rush in.......

But nothing is more certain than if I walk down the centre of the road, I am going to be hit by the traffic coming from both directions.

Playing it safe is the most dangerous thing I can possibly do.

I think we only really get to grow and move ahead in life when we challenge ourselves.


Lyrics from Left of Center by Suzanne Vega

"If you want me, you can find me,
left of center, off of the strip
in the outskirts, in the fringes,
in the corner, out of the grip"


Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, Sydney, November 2009.

COVID-19 - We're All In This Together

As we are all in this together, we are reminded of the simple things that make life beautiful, helping a neighbour, embracing our community, putting other’s needs before our own.

The only things that matter ultimately are good health and the closeness of loved ones! The wisdom of ages, and now we know it! 

We humans are a resilient bunch and throughout history have survived war, famine, epidemics, trauma and tragedy of all sorts. If there are takeaway lessons from this challenge they are that disease knows no international boundaries, love is stronger than fear, a “we and not just me” attitude serves everyone, and we need each other to survive. 

Let this be a first step to the end of discrimination and a better world full of kindness.

Finally now the Earth heals herself as pollution lessens; birds tweet to their heart’s content in a newly clear blue sky, and leopards, deer and even elephants reclaim their land as we stay locked away.

"None of us, including me, ever do great things. But we can all do small things, with great love, and together we can do something wonderful.
~~ Mother Teresa

 

When I was in Norway in 2010, out walking one day we came across this window, it made me smile.