Do you find the “new lifestyle” under lockdown rather Zen in some ways? Are you feeling grateful for some things?
I imagined calling this the lock down special but I guess I won’t because that’s the new normal right now and it might very well become THE normal in future. I see us making a habit of wearing masks when we go out because the pandemic will very likely continue before the world is completely safe.
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Firstly, I am feeling grateful to those who are tirelessly working to make the world better, to heal it and to those who deliver our essentials so we can live comfortably as we stay home, stay safe. I don’t know what we’d do without them especially when we can’t step out.
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Feeling grateful to the farmers who bring their trucks of produce to the neighborhood and are kind and friendly to the shoppers. Thankful we are eating healthier. Of course, we could do with more activity but there’s a solution to that.
Feeling grateful that as a family, we have the habit of walking together every evening on our terrace. Then we come back and exercise in our living room. Quite a comic sight, that. Would show you pictures but I have not clicked any and I wouldn’t risk the wrath of my family by doing so. Forget sharing! But I treasure the joy of watching and doing. It is so much fun.
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Mental health is crucial during this time and we make sure we are busy with our work. We sit together quietly for 12 minutes every evening and call it meditation. It helps. And we find ourselves smiling for no reason after we do that. Why 12 minutes? Well, why not! Grateful for this!
Feeling grateful for good health. During this lock down, we understand that it is important to stay healthy and look after ourselves. We’re eating healthy. Sleep habits must improve and I am trying to improve. My trigger was my high fasting blood sugar and that’s enough to put the fear into me.
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Feeling grateful for our nice neighbor who’s a pleasure to interact with. I await the day when we can all get together again and walk in and out of each other’s houses. For now, we are making do with chatting across the landing. Always wonderful to have nice things to look forward to.
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Feeling grateful for the lady who collects the garbage at our door. it must be tough for her to continue to work during the lock down. Building maintenance has to go on and we’re thankful to the security staff and other workers who do their jobs cheerfully!
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Feeling grateful to our security guard who keeps an eye out for vegetable and fruit carts and phones us when one passes by so we can go and get things at our gate without going out. Fresh stuff. How fortunate we are!
Feeling grateful for the internet that makes working from home possible. Not just work, but also entertainment because we depend on it for the most part. Bingeing on shows. Watching movies. Makes for some wonderful family time together.
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Feeling grateful to enjoy being creative with my cooking. Case in point, no-yeast bread. Here’s the thing. Our family likes bread. Me, not such a big fan but occasionally, yes, I like toast loaded with veggies. Now unless we go out, we can’t buy bread. What to do? I decided to try baking a loaf. No yeast. Ugh, what to do?
I make cake that turns out fine without the conventional ingredients like butter or eggs, so why not the same thing with bread? I mean, what’s there to lose? I made my first attempt with little buns and they turned out fine, if a little dense. We were okay with that because we were too happy about actually turning out something edible! Bolder, I tried a loaf. Look what I made:
And now, I am a bit blasé about baking an emergency loaf. It isn’t too much trouble and we likely have all the ingredients already. I posted the recipe on my food blog. Pin it for later, if you like.
I am pretty thrilled! Next, I am going to try baking garlic bread from scratch. Grateful to have all these experiments turning out successful! And the aroma at home? Wonderful!
I also baked a whole wheat eggless apple cake with no added sugar that was delicious. Will post that recipe soon!
Work-wise, it has not been a good phase and so my income has taken a severe hit. But I am hoping that this too shall pass and that things will look up, perhaps sooner than later.
All through April, as work was almost nonexistent, I focused on blogging, participating in the A to Z Challenge, blogging daily except on Sundays. I thoroughly enjoyed the writing.
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We are expecting the lock down to ease soon. We hope we are flattening the curve with social distancing. I am grateful for all the lessons in self-sufficiency, living more minimally, buying less, shopping consciously and appreciating what we have—food, shelter, clothing and all the amenities we need to live comfortably.
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How has April worked out for you?
Are you feeling grateful?
What are you looking forward to in May?
Join me for the April 2020 Gratitude Circle blog hop!
Do join me with your own posts.
As always, please note:
To join the Gratitude Circle blog hop, you can write about anything that made you feel good. It is not mandatory to write about your personal life. Or list personal things you are grateful for. You have the freedom to share anything that made you feel good. A happy event. Something you saw. An experience. A place. Something that brought you happiness. A lovely book you read that filled you with joy. Anything. I repeat, it need not be personal at all.
- Write your posts.
- Add the badge.
- Link to my post. ♥ (to validate your entry to the linky)
- Add your post link to the linky below.
- Comment and say hello here.
- Mingle and engage
Stay safe! ♥
11 comments
I can relate to everything you have written shilpa – lock down has bonded us together as a family, given time to experiment in trying new recipes, thanks to technology which has helped us in staying connected to work. Our centre has initiated COVID 19 Tele counseling and we are still asked to work from home, taking calls from students and involving ourselves in staying connected with our collaborators and volunteers, its almost 45 days I am at home the campus is lock down – we have not got our pays… we continue to work, hopefully that things will start improving. But I a grateful we are alive and we have the basic necessities of life. There are plenty of people out there working for us and this gives me gratitude;
G Angela recently posted…Z – Zillion Thanks
I have never felt so grateful in my life, the way I am feeling now. It is a great learning curve and I have attained Zen in many ways. Your post is as inspiring as it is always. Stay safe.
I am grateful for a lot of things and also you and my other blogging buddies. Through their posts, I feel I am connected.
You know Vidya our microwave stopped working. All my plans to bake went for a toss. Now when shops open, we will have to buy. I am waiting for that. For a first time, I also cooked a lot and enjoyed. It’s been okay, dull but okay.
I wish too that the curve flattens and we are become safer. Take care you three!
Parul Thakur recently posted…Little monks who play
[…] Linking up with Vidya’s gratitude circle for the month of April. […]
Vidya I find gratitude such an essential part of every day. I love what you said about meditating with your family. A while back I started using a meditation app called Insight Timer every evening for when I go to sleep and it has been so helpful. Now that my kids and I are sharing a room while staying with my parents I found some kids meditations to add to my list of meditations and every evening when we go to bed I play one for all of use. It has become a lovely bedtime tradition that is comforting and calming for all of us.
Regarding income, I’ve also had a huge knock, but there is still some income that is coming in and I am so grateful for that. As businesses around the world slowly open up so will income for us as bloggers start to increase again. There are so many people right now that have to go out to work, including my husband. I would much rather stay at home safe with my kids. I hope your income increases soon!
Oh yes, despite the lock down and the changes it brought in our life, we still have a lot to be thankful for. The no yeast bread looks absolutely amazing and you must share the recipe. This pandemic has made us realize and learn a lot of things and gratitude for all the blessings that we have is foremost. AtoZ challenge kept me sane too and income has stopped from a few sources for us too but a small window has opened and I am grateful for that! Take care and stay safe.
Hey Shilpa, thank you. I am sure things will improve slowly.
By the way, I did share the recipe – the link to my food blog is just above the pin.
Let me know if you try it!
Gratitude is a very calming emotion that fills one with positivity. These are testing times for the entire world, and one needs to be thankful for small mercies. Also, the effects of the lockdown and the depressing news all around fosters negativity. The only way to ensure that this does not get to us is by filling our minds with emotions like love and gratitude for the countless people fighting it out on behalf of humanity.
Trust you to find silver linings in all places! Love you for that <3
The lock-down is slowly becoming the new normal and we have accepted it as a part of life now. Let's see how it goes especially as this is not under anyone's control.
That seed bread looks so fab, I'll be checking out the recipe soon.
Hopefully we flatten the curve soon, the current numbers are scary!
Soumya recently posted…Action Replay + Gratitude List: April 2020
I think the ability to work from home itself is a blessing. I feel bad for people getting the virus globally and small businesses managing difficult situations. But, maybe there is hope and we can pray for it.
Sorry to hear about the drop in work – it’s tough when that happens. That said, I had to smile that you are still finding so much to be grateful about. I am not feeling very zen but that’s because work was initially very chaotic, then we have had a forced reduction in hours but no reduction in workload so it continues to be chaotic and un-zen-like. But like you, I have been trying my best to keep my gratitude journal. One big thing for us is the ability to still go outdoors – I don’t know how I would cope otherwise!!! I hope things pick up soon o the work front for you and lockdown laws ease over there.
Sanch at Sanch Writes recently posted…April 2020 Reflections