Alone together.

This week on the Ceremony we're talking about the experience of being alone, together... and what a strange feeling that is. I'm not sure I have something exceptionally original to offer the COVID conversation, particularly from my hill top privileged view. That aside, I want to take the time to explore the concept of loneliness and togetherness and how they co-exist. During this time I have been leaning into a lot of the behaviours that define me. Watching documentaries, sleeping, cooking comfort meals and spending a little too much time in the intangible world of social media. I have also been discovering some seriously idiosyncratic behaviours that I never knew existed within myself. I didn't know I could exercise daily and enjoy it, nor did I know I would have the will power to fast from 8:30pm to 12:30noon each day. What has surprised me the most however, are my feelings of loneliness. I live with my housemate, who also works from home. We do everything together; coffee, work, break, workout, work, dinner, movie, bed (well, not the bed part). My job involves talking to people all day, each moment crammed with communication in some form, handing over something energetically or mentally. However, I don't think I've ever had feelings of loneliness in this way. It's so strange when you're experiencing collective loneliness with 7,800,000,000 other people. To me, if feels like being part of an immense, humming bee hive. We're all in our honeycomb allotted spaces, venturing out to get food & fresh air. Then, we come back and we keep some provisions for ourselves and try to contribute any excess we have to the communal storage. However, on the way out to find the sweetest flower (or in my case, croissant) they moved the hive just 300m from it's home location. Now I can't find it. I'm just buzzing around the same familiar place, holding the loot I found, simulating the work I would be doing if the hive was where it used to be. Completely alone, but also completely content with the work I need to do and the food in my pocket. To combat this strange feeling floating around, here are some things I've been doing. Maybe they will help you too - 1) Move your body every day. See the blog 'The Eve' for ideas 2) Do something that removes a barrier to a better life for someone else. Be that donating to charity, ordering your friend a surprise Uber eats, signing a petition, reading up on the history of the land you live on. 3) Eat comfort food. I don't mean doughnuts and hot chips- I mean soups, stews, toast with avo, dark chocolate, a good glass of Pino Noir. 4) Ask. For. Help. FYI, asking for help isn't always 'Hey Friend, I'm really struggling'. Asking for help can look like 'Hey pal, wanna play scrabble on the app?' Make connection a priority in your day. 5) Feel it all. Then have a shower, throw on some moisturiser, rest up and start tomorrow fresh. If you cry all the next day too, cry it out, then throw on Beyonce's new album and dance it out. Love, M. Daily Ceremony acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the traditional custodians of the land we work on, and we pay our respects to elders past, present and emerging.