You've shown us our weaknesses, our strengths, our vulnerability, our resiliency. You've shown us what where our true values lie. You've given us heartbreak, but you've also given us opportunities to know our humanity.
Let's Celebrate
2020 stripped away so many of the layers we kept around us for protection, both individually and collectively. It came with some incredibly hard moments, and it certainly isn't over.
But rather than re-hash all the difficulties, I want to celebrate some of the wins.
1) We finally have a cultural understanding of the value of children and childcare.
It's not unusual to hear children in the background when you're having a conversation with your doctor, listening to a professional news anchor, or attending a university class.
It's nearly impossible to separate our personal and professional lives right now. While this has been incredibly challenging, seeing children in the everyday experience of professionals has brought a sense of reality back into the "work-life balance."
Our current economic system has shunned children and child bearers for generations for the sake of production. COVID has not only allowed us to see the deep value of domestic work, and childcare in particular, but it was also allowed us to fold our children back into the fabric of our daily existence.
2) Deepening Relationships
If you haven't gotten to know your podmates pretty well by now, you might be doing it wrong.
Also, if you've gotten through the pandemic thus far solo and without a pod, please consider reaching out to a friend who you trust and shares similar covid boundaries. Having human to human interaction is a necessary part of maintaining both our emotional and immunological health.
3) Quiet
This was a big one for me when our state had a shelter in place order in the spring. Traffic on my street almost stopped for two weeks. I could sleep and think, and wasn't on constant guard due to the noise. It felt like the Earth could breathe again.
Quiet and slowness are definitely two values I want to make sure stay with me as I move forward.
4) We can no longer deny the need for a working medical system.
The United States has had a tough go with COVID, and 2020 has illuminated the need for universal health care that allows its citizens to not only receive care and treatment, but to also stay home and quarantine when they are sick.
Anybody who has gone through birth and postpartum already knows- having access to real, holistic care can change your life.
5) Slowing down
I could name a dozen more gifts that 2020 brought, but I one of the greatest was to slow down and value rest, so I'm going to log off and got make myself a cup of tea. May you all stay healthy and connected.
In solidarity,
Prairie
Don't forget-
INNATE Postpartum Care- Preparing for the Fourth Trimester
Planning for postpartum success isn't something we often get a chance to do. This class will help you understand the physiological and nervous system needs of your postpartum body, and how to set yourself up to thrive. Intended for pregnant families between ~25-35 weeks gestational age.
Saturday Jan 30- Feb 6 12-4pm Live online $297 Scholarships available
Join me February 13, 2021 for Re-Igniting Intimacy.
This online workshop for couples will give you tools and skills to re-connect through intimacy, even after months or years of struggle. This is an experiential class, and will only be taught live- no recording.
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