It’s hard to believe that it has been 5 months already. 5 months since my son’s school closed for what was initially a few weeks. 5 months since images of exhausted and crying NYC healthcare workers were everywhere. 5 months since we enjoyed the inside of our favorite restaurants. 5 months since we walked the sidewalks without crossing to the other side when someone was coming the other direction. 5 months since we have seen a stranger’s smile. 5 months. When I decided to offer a morning meditation it was for my small town and for people who were either my patients at one point or had taken my Alchemy Class. It was a way to support these people that I know, love and have cared for for many years. I understand the detrimental effects fear and stress have on the body. I worried about the lack of structure many people would experience as their places of work closed. The isolation was probably the biggest concern I had. I didn’t want people getting their “company” from the news or tv as those outlets did not offer any hope. I love my community and I had to do something, what I didn’t realize was that community is not geographic. Within a few days there were names and faces in the tiny Zoom boxes that I had never met. People were inviting their friends and relatives and the morning ritual became about the weather in Florida and lockdown life in Paris as well as the meditation. The meditation anchored us, it connected us with a purpose but the real healing came from the voices of encouragement, the unmasked smiles, the knowing that you would be missed if you couldn’t make a session. The CCP became about the people and the connections. The group stepped up and ran their own meditations on weekends and twice during the week. I watched as these amazing individuals stretched their own courage and found the strength to share their voices. I am so proud of this group. The decision to end the daily meditations was less of a choice and more about circumstances. My son is about to start school, the environment of fear has changed, Covid still dominates the news and dictates policy but the world is different, I am different. We openned our hearts for 5 months, loving and connecting with every other heart on the planet. My heart aches for those that are needlessly suffering and I weep for inequality. My voice wants to yell out for human rights. I reject the narrative we are being bombarded with, the censorship, the inability to have a dialog without threats and hatred. We are bigger than our differences. 5 months ago I did not realize the significance of our mantra “we are one heart, one mind, one consciousness”. For this oneness is what is needed today.