The Huge Grace of Accomplishing Really Small Things

I finally put the damn stickers on the cars

Photo by Samet Kurtkus on Unsplash

Everything is a shambles and nothing is all right and we’ve been dealing with a pandemic for six months or maybe a hundred thousand years now and how am I so busy and so behind on everything when we haven’t gone anywhere or had any guests in six months or a hundred thousand years?

Also, U.S. politics is a terrifying garbage fire.

I’ve read all the articles, I know I’m not alone here; in fact my despair and overwhelm is actually right on schedule. (First few weeks: we can do this! We have plenty of toilet paper and we already work at home! Next: bread! Then: Zoom cocktail dates! But not long after that: fear and angst and endless doomscrolling on social media. And then a little activism, a little donating; then grief, more despair, trying to stay away from social media; yoga; nightly dreams about being in a crowded place and nobody’s wearing a mask, I forgot my mask too, oh crap oh crap…)

It’s been really hard to find balance and focus.

Three years ago, we moved from a city to an island. Our island has: state-run ferry service from the mainland several times a day; a wonderful little town with a great grocery store and marvelous restaurants; natural beauty and amazing people; art and…