covid – New York Minutes

“How you do one thing is how you do everything,” my yoga teacher has a way of saying the exact moment I decide I can’t hold this *#$%ing chair pose one more moment. But she’s right. And so I hold on, legs shaking, trying to be that person who believes in herself and her ability to hold the chair pose a few seconds longer. I hold on because the class is on Zoom and I’ve got webcam on, otherwise I’d totally… oops.

If how you do one thing is how you do everything –and we exclude the chair pose because it’s cruel to hold the position of sitting in a chair for more than 4 seconds without an actual chair– how do you drive?

I live in L.A.; it’s all about driving.

Are you a Type 1 Driver? Do you have a tight grip on the wheel? Are all other cars obstacles to be avoided (and feared) and all other drivers enemies?

Slight detour? Unhappy!

Traffic? Rage!

How about a Type 2 Driver? Are you asleep at the wheel? Not like, I’m-so-cool-I-have-a-self-driving-Tesla and it’s fine to sleep in my ride. More like snoozing through the journey. Type 2 says, I go one specific route from A to B because that’s the shortest one or it’s routine! Or, I drive this way because that’s how I’m supposed to drive. Basically, are you a park and drive within the lines kinda gal/guy?

Or are you a Type 3 Driver? Do you keep a soft grip on the steering wheel, while the tunes are rocking and your GPS gently nudges you in the right direction?

Detour? New roads and scenery to admire!

Traffic? Time for a new podcast!

Soccer ball kicked by the neighbor’s kid denting your brand new Tesla? Time to play!

Are you Type 1, 2, or 3 Driver?

Depends? If it’s a leisurely weekend day trip or a manic Monday? On who’s driving in the car behind you? The time of your last refuel?

If how you do any one thing is how you do everything, how you drive is how you live.

Ok, it doesn’t have to be so extreme. We all have Type 1 days. Come to think of it, Type 2 days have become months in some (personal) cases. But in general? How do ya roll? And is that the way you choose to drive, live, relate, love, and be?

After explaining this metaphor to my 10-year old son to ensure it was understandable (and that has NOTHING to do with my average readership age, btw), I asked him how I drove.

He laughed. “You drive like Type 1.”

“No, honey. This is, like, A METAPHOR! I know I drive like that on the highway because I HAVE TO OR WE WOULD DIE!” I explained. “But if I were talking about how I am in life… you know, how am I when I’m not behind the wheel? I’m so Type 3, right?”

“You’re better when you’re not driving, Mom,” he spit out unwillingly. “You’re not confident when you drive here.”

God that hurt.

If I’m not confident driving here it means I don’t trust myself. I don’t trust other drivers. I don’t trust the car, the road, the traffic, the anything. Oh wait, we’re talking about driving? Or life?

I want to be a Type 3 driver. A Type 3 driver trusts life. If every day is a winding road, and the road of life is winding, a Type 3 driver accepts that at times it’s smooth going, and for months on end it may be stop-and-go to only be met by a cross-country trip over speed-bumps (i.e. the year 2020).

I love me a good metaphor (and hope you do, too). So, if the car is my body, I stop to refuel (or recharge). The GPS is my own internal guidance and I’m checking in with it as I go. I’m also present to the here and now. The road signs and cruise control give me external support to make the whole journey more comfortable. I WANT ALL OF THAT! As in driving, so in life!

Be like a Type 3 Driver! Not only when driving. When you do chair pose, or when you help your 5th grader with his book report that was due December 18th (and it’s mid-January and he’s still reading the book), or even when the lady at the beach tells her kid to give space to someone else in THE PACIFIC OCEAN, but you mistakenly think she’s telling your kid who’s swimming on his own IN THE OCEAN where he needs to be in THAT WIDE OPEN SPACE, which enrages you beyond comprehension.

Yes, I know. I’ve got Type 1 issues. I’m working on it. In the above example when my son told me I was embarrassing for telling the lady to not tell him where to be in the ocean because she wasn’t talking to him I definitely switched gears and drove like a Type 3: I cowered back to my beach chair in shame, asked my son to forgive me for being a jerk, and atoned myself by writing this story in a blog.

That’s my simple approach to moving from Type 1 to Type 3 in life: first wince, then apologize, try to learn from the experience, and forgive yourself because that’s how gracious Type 3 is.

Repeat after me, me.

I trust life.

I trust myself.

I trust you.

I trust the universe.

I trust everything.

Love and peace on your journey, especially if you’re driving on the (highway) 405.

My best friend called me a week ago and said he had COVID. Before I write more I want to emphasize I just moved to Santa Monica from NYC.

In August 2020. During a pandemic.

And I have a friend.

And he qualifies as not only a friend but the best-only friend I have in town.

That’s the real purpose of this blog post but feel free to read on.

So my best-only friend and I spent New Year’s Eve together on my couch with take-out and wine, plus New Year’s Day together at the beach with my kids, and later that day we were wine-and-dine-ing on the couch again. I recall that on New Year’s Day he’d said he had a stomach problem and spent some time in the bathroom in the morning and just wasn’t feeling super well. He thought it was the wine. But after body surfing with my boys in the ocean, riding in my car together, and more time on my couch, his headache and sickness cleared. Four days later he had a positive COVID test result.

Before you ask the question, the answer is “no.” There’s no kissing involved in this best-only friendship. At least not last week or the week before that. But there might as well have been.

Back to the phone call. My best-only-friend-in-town called me and asked how I was doing (before I knew about him testing positive or even thinking he might have COVID). I said, “I had a rough day. Could you come over later and we’ll go for a walk?”

He replied, “No, I can’t do that.”

I was like, “Wait, what?”

“I can’t go walking with you. I have to stay home and isolate until January 11. I have COVID,” he said.

“Wait, what?!”

“Remember New Year’s Day?” he asked. “When I didn’t feel well at the beach? The doctor thinks that’s when it began. I hope you and the boys don’t have it, too.”

As an aside I believe I already had COVID last March. But I later tested negative for antibodies. And as far as immunity goes, who knows?

I’ve been delving into the intuitive and psychic realms for many years. So I asked my intuition, “Do I have the virus?”

“No,” I received.

The next day I woke up with a stomach ache and, well, tummy issues. And my sinuses were kinda funky, my throat glands felt swollen. “I’ve got the coronavirus again, right?”

“No,” I received.

Later I pried again. “Me and my kids got it. We all got it. We’re gonna be one of the 12 in 10 people in L.A. who’s got it. And I’m asthmatic so I’ll be needing ICU and there are no beds, right?”

“No, no, and no,” I received.

I still triple N-95’d myself and went on a grocery run. I was panicked that I’d be locked at home with two boys, two tubs of ice cream, and two frozen pizzas in the freezer to feed off of, and no delivery service or best-only friend to bring us food. I stocked up on orange juice, zinc, and flour (as if I were going to learn to feed the three of us by baking?!). Then I went and got a rapid test.

“It’s going to be positive. I can feel it. I had bad stomach issues this morning. And we were together the whole weekend when my friend was super contagious. I’m sick. My boys will get sick, too. I’m COVID positive, right?” I asked my intuition again.

“No.”

I went to the drive-thru testing center. “Any symptoms or contact with a COVID positive person?”

“YES, BOTH!” I exclaimed, clutching my swollen glands. I’ve so got COVID.

Twenty minutes later I got the rapid test result. I was negative. In 48 hours I got the second lab test result. Also negative. It’s been a week. I’ve been mostly sequestered at home in case they were false negatives. But no more COVID-type symptoms. I do feel kinda sick from the OD of OJ and dozens of cookies I’ve baked with the 28 pounds of flour I hoarded.

What is this whole blog about? Besides me having a friend? 🙂 It’s really about the power of our intuition! The still, small whisper of my intuitive knowing was calm, neutral, and clear. But my fears remained loud and proud. I consider myself pretty darn intuitive. And still…still… I doubt, question, and worry I got it wrong.

Your intuition, or psychic self, knows without knowing. And here’s the thing: your intuition probably gets overrun by fear and the need to hoard grocery products in the times you need the still, small voice inside of you most.

In other words, our intuition is more challenging to “hear” when the situation is about (1) our own life and (2) things we care deeply about (our family, our health, and what’s in our freezer).

Yes, it was right to ask my intuition questions. And yes, it was prudent to go get a test or two as soon as I found out my best-only friend had tested positive. And maybe next time I’ll leave some OJ and flour for other residents of Santa Monica.

What do you do when your best-only friend gets COVID? I can’t help you there. Your intuition knows though. Here are some ways to activate your inner knowing:

Ask simple, clear questions one at a time. Try this now. Ask yourself, “Do I have an active COVID infection in my body?” Then wait for the answer through all of your senses and make note of what comes through. It may come as a feeling, a thought, a visual, a word, or a sound. You might simply know the answer.
Ask the question in various ways. Type or write out the question and let your fingers automatically type/write the answer. You can speak your question aloud and answer aloud. You can even ask your best-only friend to ask you, “Do you have an active COVID infection in your body?!”
Ask the question with options for the answer like “A, B, or C.” If you find yourself wanting to get yes as an answer because it feels more positive (no matter what the question is), you can avoid yes/no questions by asking if the answer is A or B. (e.g. Yes, I have COVID is A and No, I don’t have COVID is B). You can visualize A and B in front of you like a fork in the road, and see which you’re most drawn to or which one lights up for you. If there’s more than two options for your question visualize an A, B, C, etc.
Ask questions about “What’s in my highest good?” also to elicit yes/no answers. For example, “Is it in my highest good to get a COVID test?” is better than “Should I get a COVID test?” because the word should brings in more subjectivity. Should according to whom?
Track your answers to yes/no questions and look back on them. You can ask yourself simple questions each day about the weather tomorrow (Will it rain in Tokyo?), if the DOW Jones average will close higher tomorrow than today. Also track how you received the answer (see/hear/feel/know it). You may be surprised how able you are to know without knowing. The difference between the psychic and psychotic is the psychic self verifies; so keep track and take note of whether it rained in Tokyo the next day. When you were correct, celebrate!
Practice daily! If I want to run the Berlin marathon in 2022 to see if I could beat my 1999 race time, I wouldn’t show up at the starting line without running. Believe me, I learned the hard way in 1999. If you want to have confidence in your intuition, you gotta exercise that muscle over and over.

If the COVID question stirs up too much for you or isn’t relevant, start with an easier question like, “What’s in my highest good to eat at my next meal?” Notice if your brain goes to rational thinking (i.e. Well, you got two frozen pizzas, two tubs of ice cream, and 28 pounds of flour to work with). If so, thank your rational mind for popping in with its input, ask again, and wait.

The energetic signature for your intuition is calm, clear, and neutral. Generally, your intuitive knowing won’t shout answers so stay attuned to subtle differences in your body. Do you lean forward or back? Feel warmer or colder? Do your thoughts go to the future? Or past memories? With time and practice you’ll be able to decode even these subtle signals to get clear intuitive information.

As you track yes and no signals from your intuition, also track what’s feels neutral for you. “Is it in my highest good to buy a ticket to Paris for next New Year’s?” may not elicit a strong yes/no because it isn’t time to decide.

Do you sense your intuition is continually “speaking” to you through feelings, images, thoughts, memories, dreams, and signs? And do wish you could trust and be guided by your intuition more? I’m super excited to announce I’ll be leading a new workshop series called, “The Power Within You: Developing Your Intuitive Superpowers” starting on Tuesday, Jan 26th. It’s a 6-week series that meets 90 minutes per week on Zoom to help you learn how to ask questions about all parts of your life that you’d like to receive answers to, and to understand how your intuition “speaks” to you. If you feel called, I’d love to have you join us! More info here: http://www.newyorkminutes.org/workshops/the-power-within-you/

Information about what’s safe, what’s not safe, what we should and shouldn’t do is coming at us from all sides these days. It’s never been more important to stay connected to our own inner guidance, and what’s in the highest good of ourselves, our families, as well as our community.

How’s my best-only friend doing? I’m happy to report he only had symptoms New Year’s Day and he’s recovered fully.

Since you’ve read this far I want to reiterate, I HAVE A FRIEND!!! Even more impressive, we met at the swimming pool where one’s face is submerged 99% of the time and one’s head is covered by a condom-like cap. Making a friend at a swimming pool is a major feat! Almost as big as not catching COVID from them on New Year’s.

Stay healthy, stay well, and stay connected to your intuitive knowing.

Tag: covid

How Do You Drive?

My best friend got COVID and this is what my intuition said