Sitting here this morning I’m oscillating between two realities.

The first is that I don’t want to even write or say COVID-19 or Corona Virus because this global pandemic is all-consuming our lives and society right now. I’m in a place where I want to silently protest by not even mentioning it. I want the conversation to shift and I want to talk about something else — anything else!

The second reality is that this is unprecedented, history in the making. It is changing everything about everyday living and not addressing it, documenting the experience and reflecting seems to be a bit tone deaf to all that we are going through as individuals, families, organizations and a collective society.

In all of the communications and chaos circulating right now there was one tweet that resonated with me and helped me refocus.

Conversations will not be cancelled.
Relationships will not be cancelled.
Love will not be cancelled.
Songs will not be cancelled.
Reading will not be cancelled.
Self-care will not be cancelled.
Hope will not be cancelled.

May we lean into the good stuff that remains.

— Jamie Tworkowski (@jamietworkowski) March 12, 2020

There has been so much kindness and goodness during these unprecedented and unsettling times. I just finished reconnecting with a dear friend about her family’s reality, now that youth sports are indefinitely suspended. Her family loves the sports-life but noted it is a “blessing in disguise” because their family is getting a forced slow down to be able to focus on each other. Yes, there are bright spots in all the murky uncertainty.

Walking into and through the unknown is so hard. During this time when events everywhere are being canceled, toilet paper is absent from shelves, schools are shut down and life as we know it is unrecognizable, I love the advice to lean into the good stuff.

Here’s what will not be canceled in our household:

• Dance parties in the kitchen
• Cupcake decorating contests
• Pancake breakfasts
• Fort-building
• Movie nights with popcorn and gummies
• Homework (sorry, kiddos!)
• Kind words or encouragement
• Sunrises and sunsets
• Writing and reading
• Dreaming big dreams

Reflect on the most simple things in life that are the most important things in life. Check on each other. Be the first to offer a smile or kind word. Face time with family. Have a family game night. Finally get around to that thing you’ve been putting off for ever. Audaciously insist on finding the blessings in this turmoil.

Commit to holding onto what is good.