Things I Miss
By Jane Tawel
May 27, 2020
I’ll confess, there are actually a lot of things, frankly, that I like about sheltering in – not the fear and health and deaths and unemployment –but I mean things I personally like. I like the time I have to chill more, read more, binge watch more, relax more. I like having more morning time to watch and listen to birds, more intentional communication with friends and family, more time to be still and meditate, pray, imagine; etc. etc. But here are ten things I didn’t realize how much I would miss.
I MISS:
- Getting “dressed up” and wearing work-clothes that don’t include sweats and t-shirts.
- Smiling at strangers as I pass them in public places. (Or at least strangers being able to see that I am smiling at them).
- Entertaining big swarms of friends and family – I’d even cook AND clean- up after, at this point.
- Thinking about, planning for, anticipating ANYTHING other than what to eat that day.
- I actually miss NOT having enough time to keep eating, and keep eating, and keep eating, and having to stop eating because I’m too busy.
- Soft, un-chapped hands that don’t look like they should belong to a lizard.
- Going whichever way I need to go down the grocery aisles – arrows are tough for directionally challenged people like I. It takes quite a bit of thought for some of us to redirect. I miss following the directions of my own skewed and screwy internal compass.
- Hugs
- Hugs
- Hugs
Stay safe, stay sane, stay hopeful. ~~Jane
Jane Tawel 
This is very nice. Actually these are things in most of our minds during these days.
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I agree with you on the grocery aisles, Jane, as I too have something I name a directional learning disability.
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The last three are what I miss the most out of all.
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Betul Erbasi –Yes — I do too, obviously. 🙂 If we get out of this alive I’m never going to apologize again for being a hugger — nor miss an opportunity to hug long and hard. Peace and love to you today. Jane
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Same! Have a great day!
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Agreed on all of these.
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Verity: I most of all miss 8, 9, and 10 with YOU!
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I have always thought that I could very easily live as a hermit. However, now that I must, I miss, truly miss, feeling and being a social person. Just not having to think about personal safety at every step.
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Annette: Yes, I am in complete agreement with you. I have so seldom in life had what I would consider enough “alone” time. One thing that occurred to me after reading your comment — in some ways “alone time” that I took before was somewhat “self-centered”, in other words I was, as we say, “peopled out” and so I longed for “me-time”. Not of course that I mean that needing “me-time” is necessarily “selfish” or that we don’t radically need more alone time than we are currently able to get in this fast paced, workaholic, people all the time world. But, the CHOICE then was about self. Now the choice is about not my self, but others. Now alone time is done FOR others, to protect them, and to protect myself of course. Now it is something that began as a critical exercise in safety, enforced from outside but morphs more and more into a choice about what we believe and how we should live for others. It’s funny, but I find myself thinking a lot about the enforced time of solitude and rest that used to come from an outside source we called God and institutionalized in what were called Sabbaths. It is an intriguing thing to contemplate how, if, and when we are ever able to go back to socializing, those of us who enjoy what you call a bit of “hermitage” will consider a different kind of solitude and our choices in being with others. Thanks so much for reading and commenting, and instigating further thought. Find joy in your journey today, ~~Jane
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