30-Day Perspective Shift

Artists, writers, problem solvers, inventors -creatives of all sorts- are constantly challenging perception. They challenge their own perspective and ideally inspire shifts in perspectives for those around their world.

Part of what has been happening to me during the pandemic is very common the world over. I have made habits out of my fear. Some of the habits are healthy and useful tools of preservation…other habits are, perhaps, more destructive than the contagion.

Good: I wear a mask and wash my hands.

Bad: I withdraw, I hide, and I retreat. This is NOT my normal.

Good: I have time to think about how I feel.

Bad: I drown in my feelings.

Good: I create, I write, and I experiment.

Bad: I am lost in a world in which I cannot share those creations. It makes me lonely.

We wait for a vaccine. We wait for the herd to be immune enough to make those of us with high risk factors safer. We wait while being scared.

I want to push my perspective of what is safe without being ignorant or delusional about risk. Every shift in thought or habit takes 30 days to make new. I am going to engage in a 30-day adventure to break my cycles of fear, anxiety, dependence, and isolation that affect my health mentally and physically.

Every day, for 30 days I will tend to:

• Physical Health – I will exercise, stretch, eat well, take vitamins/meds, and SLEEP
• Isolation – I will get OUTSIDE safely, meet new people and engage in learning them, and create community engagement practices within the parameters of avoiding spread of cooties.
• Fear and Anxiety – I need to control my environment -keep it clean and safe- just long enough to reprogram my nervous system to stop shaking. I will reject management of other’s needs or feelings about my current process. I will commit to habitual calming practices.
• Dependence – I need to be alone. I cannot stand how I feel while also feeling like I burden others. This isn’t about isolation. It is about being independent enough to have a messy day -or ten- without also worrying about that impact on others. A reality of chronic health issues is dependency on others, but re-establishing my feelings of being strong and having independent thought will depend on my reliance on self above all.

The project to set myself free:

• Travel – I have chosen a place I have always wanted to go. In COVID world, travel feels impossible. It isn’t. I can do it safely, and I will.
• New Place, New Habits – A radical change in environment will allow my body to break some assumptions. I can control for the perceived or actual contamination of my “home” as I am the only one in it.
• Process – I can process my fear and anxiety when it gets my primary focus -above providing care for others, above schedules of others, and above obligations perceived or actual.
• Create – I have been designing in a new-to-me way for the past several months. I am dedicating time to create work from my shifting perspective.
• Engage Others – I know I am very much not alone in this world. We are all in need of a system reset. What will your 30-day perspective shift look like? There is strength in numbers…we can do it together. Set yourself free.