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Proceeding Through A Pandemic

By on June 25, 2020
Birds

By Nicole Moorey

“What kind of person am I being called to become?”

As relevant in June as I write this, as it was in April when it was written and May when it was published, today’s book referral is a written “time capsule” of navigating the pandemic.

Beth Kempton had an alternate book in the works when COVID-19 took over the world, so she quickly changed direction and wrote this 97 page book. “We Are In This Together: Finding hope and opportunity in the depths of adversity” helps us be calm, decide what matters most and renew ourselves so that we can imagine life beyond these turbulent times.

She compassionately describes our early days of isolation, offers wisdom on how to cope with the three stages of our experience and guides us to make the most of this unique time. This is our invitation not to “return” to how things were, but instead to “proceed” with the best of what we are learning.

Despite its brevity, this book is a powerful resource that I’ve already read twice and will return to throughout the pandemic. I love how Beth captures both the news of the world and the picture of everyday life, as I wish I had thought to record through this once-in-a-lifetime event.

I relate to her 3 part framework for the book – and for our collective experience – that helps us make sense of what we’re living. ‘The World Before This’ has us reflect on how we were living (including running, pushing, consuming, competing, balancing, juggling and accelerating) and how that was working for us. ‘The World Right Now’ captures both how we have come to handle ourselves and healthy ways to make it through. ’The World Beyond This’ reflects on our recovery back to health, not just back to the individuals and the society we were.

I find her questioning, rather than prescriptive, approach a healthy one. She guides us through our own personal experiences by ending each chapter with three helpful reflection questions. No matter when you pick up this book, you’ll find all of the questions relevant to your forward progress.

In her gentle way, each page had me nodding and learning from her insights and wisdom. I want to share just a small taste of her sage advice, as I feel now is a good time for this loving reminder for our families and ourselves.

What are we really learning?

  • That there is a huge amount of love and compassion in our lives and the world.
  • That missing our friends means that we have friends whom we care about, and who care about us.
  • That there are different kinds of people doing all kinds of work that really matters, and that we have those kinds of options too.
  • That it’s okay not to have all the answers.
  • That we are not in control – no one is – and that’s okay because we still have agency, and free will, and we can choose to do good things.
  • That it’s good to live with curiosity and hopefulness, and see where it takes us.
  • That life is hard and confusing and magical and beautiful, and it can be all those things at once.
  • That things change, and they always will.
  • That this time and freedom is helping us to figure out who we are.
  • That everyone else is trying to figure that out too.

So, I invite you to join me in finding ways to use this rare opportunity for good. Or as Beth encourages us, “We are standing at a threshold. What we do with this time and how we think about it and use it will change the course of each of our lives.”

Let’s change our lives for the best.

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33Nicole Moorey knows books have the power to change lives, so loves contributing these women’s empowerment “book referrals” to Simply Woman. As a SWAT Master Empowerment Coach, she connects women with themselves, others and nature so they can truly be themselves and enjoy what matters most to them in life.

www.nicolemoorey.com
www.facebook.com/nicolemooreycoaching

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