Author: thesolosol

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QUARAN-TIME

I bought the url to my website over a year and a half ago. I had a plan. I had a dream. Apparently, I didn’t have the time. As a single mother, operating two home-based businesses, trying to manage two very busy schedules, finding the time to sit down and write and edit, and re-write and re-edit, was just not happening. Like many things, I just kept putting it off. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe this weekend. Maybe next week. All of a sudden, my maybe turned into months which turned into a year, and then some. I had the best intentions. I had great ideas. I just didn’t give myself the time. Instead I gave excuses, the hesitant promise, and the half-hearted hope… maybe someday.

Well, in a prodigious turn of events, the gift I have been waiting for has shown up. The world is on lockdown. We are currently facing a global pandemic that is decimating countries, health care systems, economies, and families, and the end is nowhere in sight. People are losing jobs, sources of incomes, financial stability, childcare, education, extracurriculars, sanity, patience, but most of all, hope. To put it simply, LIFE IS SCARY! Trying to navigate these unprecedented times, with no ability to comprehend what the future holds, is debilitating. I myself am very worried I may continue to lose income and clients, and be left with nothing at the end of this. I worry, what will happen to my daughter, if I become infected, and she is left to fend for herself in our home, while I lie helpless in my bed. I worry about what will happen to her if she becomes infected and has to be hospitalized, and I am not allowed to be with her. I worry for my ninety-one year old grandmother, as the outcome looks very bleak, if she were to become ill. Even as I write those words, tears fall down my cheeks. We are being faced with possibilities that we could never have conjured up in our worst nightmares. I feel anxious and unsettled and concerned. It would be so easy to give way to the fear that looms around me. I could spend my days in a panic loop, obsessing over what is not in my control. A quote I have found comfort in is this, “Life is 10 percent of what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it.” At the end of the day, I cannot control what is happening around me or to me, I can only control how I respond. I am approaching each day with a gratitude attitude, and am celebrating all the good and positive in my life. Today, I am grateful for the following:

We are healthy

Our family and friends are healthy

Our fridge, freezers, cupboards and pantry are stocked with food

I have a source of income

Lucy-Quinn is a joy to have at home

Modern technology allowing me to stay connected to friends and family, near and far

An unending supply of coffee. It’s the simple things 🙂

Good books

Fresh Air

Free time

In light of all that is happening around us, we have a choice. Carlos Castenada said, “We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.” We are being given an unexpected gift, the gift of time. You have the time to mend broken relationships, to restore shelved friendships, to reconnect with distant family members. You are gifted time to make memories with your children, reignite passion with your partner, practice kindness to your neighbor. Time to make, create, organize, cook, bake, play, explore, talk, share, reflect, relax, and set intention for your life, today, and the days to come. I, for one, have been wanting time to check things off my to do list. I can now focus on things, I never thought I would have the chance to do. Everything that is happening in the world and to us, is terrifying. There are so many reasons to worry and to be afraid, but if you look closely, and choose to accept that there is good in this bleak situation, everything will become a little brighter, a little better.

Find the good. See it. Use it. Make the most of it.

Is there something in your life that you have been putting off? Is there an idea or dream or a hobby you have wanted to dive into, but you haven’t had the time?

Today is the day to make a change. Today you have time. You have QUARAN-TIME.

Much love, friends! Be safe! Be well! STAY HOME!

Crystal 🙂

Posted on

QUARAN-TIME

I bought the url to my website over a year and a half ago. I had a plan. I had a dream. Apparently, I didn’t have the time. As a single mother, operating two home-based businesses, trying to manage two very busy schedules, finding the time to sit down and write and edit, and re-write and re-edit, was just not happening. Like many things, I just kept putting it off. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe this weekend. Maybe next week. All of a sudden, my maybe turned into months which turned into a year, and then some. I had the best intentions. I had great ideas. I just didn’t give myself the time. Instead I gave excuses, the hesitant promise, and the half-hearted hope… maybe someday.

Well, in a prodigious turn of events, the gift I have been waiting for has shown up. The world is on lockdown. We are currently facing a global pandemic that is decimating countries, health care systems, economies, and families, and the end is nowhere in sight. People are losing jobs, sources of incomes, financial stability, childcare, education, extracurriculars, sanity, patience, but most of all, hope. To put it simply, LIFE IS SCARY! Trying to navigate these unprecedented times, with no ability to comprehend what the future holds, is debilitating. I myself am very worried I may continue to lose income and clients, and be left with nothing at the end of this. I worry, what will happen to my daughter, if I become infected, and she is left to fend for herself in our home, while I lie helpless in my bed. I worry about what will happen to her if she becomes infected and has to be hospitalized, and I am not allowed to be with her. I worry for my ninety-one year old grandmother, as the outcome looks very bleak, if she were to become ill. Even as I write those words, tears fall down my cheeks. We are being faced with possibilities that we could never have conjured up in our worst nightmares. I feel anxious and unsettled and concerned. It would be so easy to give way to the fear that looms around me. I could spend my days in a panic loop, obsessing over what is not in my control. A quote I have found comfort in is this, “Life is 10 percent of what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it.” At the end of the day, I cannot control what is happening around me or to me, I can only control how I respond. I am approaching each day with a gratitude attitude, and am celebrating all the good and positive in my life. Today, I am grateful for the following:

We are healthy

Our family and friends are healthy

Our fridge, freezers, cupboards and pantry are stocked with food

I have a source of income

Lucy-Quinn is a joy to have at home

Modern technology allowing me to stay connected to friends and family, near and far

An unending supply of coffee. It’s the simple things 🙂

Good books

Fresh Air

Free time

In light of all that is happening around us, we have a choice. Carlos Castenada said, “We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.” We are being given an unexpected gift, the gift of time. You have the time to mend broken relationships, to restore shelved friendships, to reconnect with distant family members. You are gifted time to make memories with your children, reignite passion with your partner, practice kindness to your neighbor. Time to make, create, organize, cook, bake, play, explore, talk, share, reflect, relax, and set intention for your life, today, and the days to come. I, for one, have been wanting time to check things off my to do list. I can now focus on things, I never thought I would have the chance to do. Everything that is happening in the world and to us, is terrifying. There are so many reasons to worry and to be afraid, but if you look closely, and choose to accept that there is good in this bleak situation, everything will become a little brighter, a little better.

Find the good. See it. Use it. Make the most of it.

Is there something in your life that you have been putting off? Is there an idea or dream or a hobby you have wanted to dive into, but you haven’t had the time?

Today is the day to make a change. Today you have time. You have QUARAN-TIME.

Much love, friends! Be safe! Be well! STAY HOME!

Crystal 🙂

Posted on

And so… IT Begins.

There’s so much I want to say. There’s so much I want to do. There’s so much I want to experience; to taste; to see; to smell. My mind is a rapid fire of ideas and dreams, and my ability to chase them as quickly as they are produced is impossible, so I have made it my mission to embrace one at a time.

I am a creative so(u)l. I explore a variety of outlets as a means of creative expression. Diving into this blogging endeavour, is a natural next step for me. I am so excited to be able to tell my story and share my journey in this way.

My life’s perspective has been viewed through a variety of lenses. At this point in my life, I am primarily alone. I am single, never married. I am a single mama. I work alone. I travel alone. I have an incredible support system, but I live a solo life. At the outset, this type of life was uncomfortable. The aloneness was immediately translated into loneliness, but now, I consider it one of my greatest blessings. Being able to live and experience adulthood, parenthood, adventure, expression and the world, in the way I am living it, has taught me incredible lessons, and given me a unique, but special perspective. I used to mourn a life I thought I would have, and it saddened me to think how different it looked. Now, I relish what I have been given, and am forever grateful for this season, where I am and will be The SOLO SOL.