I- Soulation 

“You are a soul. You have a body.” – Jim Butcher

Hey Beautiful Bestie!

How are you getting through global quarantine? You doing alright? 

Well, I have a confession. You may have met me online — where I was chattering like a magpie — or in person when I was giving a presentation, or just being chummy.

But, I’ve spent most of my life in quarantine and isolation. All that extroversion is my professional self. In my personal life, I am very, very much an introvert, a loner, and practiced in the ancient art of isoulation.

I grew up as on only child — I had siblings, but they lived across an ocean in another country. 

And I was a military kid, so we moved up to 3x a year, which meant sleepovers and deep friendships weren’t part of my life until I was an adult. 

Then, in my teens, I began getting “sick,” which meant I couldn’t be close to other people. I would have strep for spring break and bronchitis multiple times per year. If someone near me felt a little unwell, I often ended up hospitalized. 

So, I began practicing social distancing, prophylactic antibiotic use, and advanced isolation skills. 

In a good week, I would touch 3 people — and one of them was my wasband (he was my husband, get it?!).

All this to say: I have some insight that may be helpful as you face the day for the next few months.

Hence, i-soul-lation. Because that’s the big takeaway here. Limiting your physical activity, and social circle, means you have a lot — and I do mean a LOT- more time with yourself. All this time can connect you more deeply with your soul, your purpose, your life’s rituals. 

Or it can rob you of your joy and sense of place in the world. Sometimes both. 

You may have noticed by now that your mind is a really squirrelly place — and I mean that literally. 

In Norse mythology, there is a cosmic villain called Ratatosk. Ratatosk was/is a squirrel. 

He’s a massive, angry, frothing-at-the-mouth, very-probably-rabid squirrel. And he travels the height and width of the world tree Igdrasil, inciting anger and madness in every realm of reality (Earth is Midgard btw, but there are at least 8 others). He goes to the base of Igdrasil, the world tree, and spreads gossip and lies to the dragon who lives there about what the eagle above is saying.

He’s basically a Kardashian, but don’t tell him I said that.  

Then, he goes up to the eagle who dwells in the treetop and talks trash — which he allegedly heard from the dragon. 

Ratatosk jumps from limb to limb of the known galaxy driving anyone he encounters mad with insecurity, anxiety, doubt, and fear. 

He causes earthquakes and plagues, war and terror. Ratatosk is the original busybody with bad intentions. 

The Norse clearly understood the games our minds play on us when we can’t be distracted with lots of other people and activity. Maybe it was all those long, cold nights in small villages. 

Practicing isoulation means girding yourself against the trouble-making squirrel that is the human mind. Finding purpose, peace, and rituals go a long way in calming the frantic feelings that rise up when we cannot access big distractions. 

Rituals are, perhaps, the easiest way to set yourself up for success. Anything can be a ritual — how and when you wake up, what you do when you break your overnight fast, how the morning looks and feels, all rife with ritual possibilities. And, bonus, we get to designate what matters to us, so our rituals are all ultra-specific. 

This fantastic blog by Zenhabits’ Leo Babitua on creating ritual breaks down why ritual is necessary in everyday life and how to easily elevate the small moments of your day into places that feed your soul richly. The Art of Creating a Ritual for What Matters Most : zen habits

How do you feel about peace, bestie? 

Actually, what do you think peace is?

Is it the lack of struggle, of tension, is it floating on a gossamer cloud through an robin’s egg blue sky with a bowl of grapes being fed to you by angelic (looking) beings?

Because that sounds boring as algebra to me. 

What about Wild Peace? The peace of standing in a storm, fully alive, crackling with the electricity that powers our bodies, engaged in the this business of living?

That’s an option during isoulation: to embrace the wildness of not knowing what the next day will bring and cultivating a response that is like a Bruce Lee 3-inch punch of peace straight through the heart of Ratatosk. It’s the Surfing, Flying, Dancing, Love-Making Soul Satisfying approach to peace. 

Or, as Harriet Rubin wrote: “The peace that… {she} thrives under is a ‘wild peace.’ It is the feeling in your heart after great excitement: the feeling of satiety, or certainty, when all the world’s concerns drop away and beauty like a lazy white foam rises up to take their place. It is the effortlessness after the effort.”

Practicing wild peace can be as simple as intentionally changing your routine. Routine may be the foundation of a ritual, but it’s a lot less mindful.  

You may be saying aloud that your routines have already been thrown to Ratatosk, thank you very much, but stick with me here. 

Having your routine yanked out from under your feet is unpleasant. Choosing to change your routine is something else. So, my suggestion is choose a routine to change because you’re curious about the change alone. It may not be this week, or this month, given all the unpredictable changes you’re facing. 

But something as small as choosing to have dinner at a very Mediterranean hour like 10pm, or waking with the dawn just to enjoy the birds singing while you sit outside, will restore your sense of balance and agency in subtle and vital ways.

And, in that agency, is your peace despite the upheaval of the world. 

Think siestas, daily voice practice, cartwheels at 3pm rain or shine, coloring, learning a dance routine, changing your nail polish color, eating dulce de leche ice cream for breakfast and going vegan for dinner, sending loving messages to 50 of your nearest and dearest… all valid routines that add big joy to your day. 

Just in case you need some additional support, the Wanderlust Worker blog has a great breakdown of what it takes to change our lives (and our routines).

Why Are You Here? (No Pressure)

The third principle of isoulation is divining your purpose in life. Maybe you already know your life’s purpose, but maybe you don’t. 

And I got nothing for you, bestie. I tend to believe purpose is poured into us as we enter existence, then we get to spend our entire lives figuring it out. 

But, if you’re focused on building rituals into your life, and accessing wild peace amidst the meltdown of life as you know it, you are much, much more likely to stumble upon your purpose. 

Like Joseph Campbell said, “Each entered the forest at a point that he himself had chosen, where it was darkest and there was no path. If there is a path it is someone else’s path and you are not on the adventure. If you follow someone else’s way, you are not going to realize your potential.”

After all, history tells us that when the world is in chaos we see the rise of phenomenal people. They are so often those who have lived seemingly-unremarkable lives, quietly developed outside the glaring view of the world. 

In mythology, they are called demigods. But in modern history, we call them Heroes. 

This is a moment where new Heroes are hearing the call that sings through creation to share their gift with the world. It’s a journey, and it’s full of trouble and adventure. 

Do you hear the call Bestie? 

Will you answer? 

Let isoulation be your first step in finding out. After all, hearing the call is always the first step of the Hero’s Journey in mythology, whether Native North American, Egyptian, Greek, DC or Marvel. 

I love you, and I’m proud of you in so many ways. 

Cam

P.S. If you need or want a way to record this time in your life, the changes you’re making, and what they yield — check out the #HealthyMe Planner. It’s a system I created for the Hero’s Journey of Your Life. 

Written: 7:30am, Mon March 23. Music: Mikki Sings Billie: A Tribute to Billie Holiday