Day in, day out, new habits are establishing themselves. Habits we didn’t plan for, some we are obliged to take up, some we see as ways to deal with change.

It’s how life works. In times of crisis, it’s more dense, more visible.

We feel the discomfort of the change around us, in us and with others.

Connected to this a sense of loss.

We’ve seen the world around us change numerous times. We know that big events will bring change. They take away the way we used to do things and bring a different experience.

Living close to two borders within the Schengen area, crossing borders had become an unconscious experience, a sense of freedom. A few days ago marked the 25th anniversary of that Schengen treaty. A few days before, Germany had closed the borders in an effort to deal with the pandemic. It’s temporary and yet it affects the predictability of the future.

Loss leads to grief. It’s grieving the things we can’t do as usual and the things we foresaw for our future. It creates all kinds of feelings. All worth to be acknowledged and felt.

Not to keep them, but to be present with the experience.

They are essential to finding a space of acceptance for our experience and the situation.

We can’t see it. We can only feel it.

It’s doing the emotional labor to trust and feel that opens that space.

It’s there to deal with the senses of loss of control and our desire for safety.

It’s the work we do to reestablish our sense of trust.

It’s how we create tomorrow.