The COVID-19 pandemic has put all of humanity out on a ledge. Vis-a-vis the pre-pandemic world we are in a parallel universe of sorts. Economically, an unseen enemy has left no one unscathed by its butchery. Can’t we just press the rewind button and undo this? It sounds like a childish question, but humanity has gotten so “smart” that we have forgotten that we are not really in control. All of the gizmos, gadgets, and “life enhancing” technology (and lifestyle that goes along with it) can’t protect us from the novel COVID-19 virus. And as the quarantine life has set in now over the last month I have learned some extremely valuable life lessons.

First, in general, many things I thought were “needs” are not truly needs at all. Let’s take the health club. Since quarantine I have run every morning. I also do stretching, push-ups, sit-ups, and some other isometric strength training exercises. I have not missed an exercise workout since last September and I have to say that over the last month of exercises I have found myself more challenged than what I was doing at the club. I’m more sore and I am working out muscles that really needed to get some attention. One of the best things about the club I belong to is that it has a cold plunge pool. To get a similar effect I have just taken cold showers in the morning after my workout. And so far so good.

Another “need” I had was to pretty much hit up Starbucks every single morning. The rationale in my mind was “It’s the cheapest way to make me a lot more productive.” I enjoy coffee greatly and I do feel a lot more productive with a cup of it sitting in front of me while I am working. For me, Starbucks offered my favorite coffee every time without me doing much work to get it (other than have them deduct the cost from my account). With the quarantine I have decided that it would be best to limit my “touch points” and so I don’t even go to Starbucks or any coffee shop every day. Instead, I have learned to make coffee in a French press. About once a week or so I go through the coffee shop drive-thru (lately it has been Black Rock Coffee) and purchase a bag of coffee. Once again, I have found that not only has the coffee that I’ve been enjoying been “keeping me productive,” but I am actually enjoying it more. I am even enjoying the ritual of making the coffee myself every morning.

The last major lesson (and definitely the most valuable) is the substitution of getting most food directly from a local farmer vs. from the grocery store. For about the last two decades we have lived just down the street from a local farm (Singh Farms). We just never went there. And even though we used to do most of our shopping at Whole Foods our cupboard was still filled with mostly stuff in boxes and frozen packages. Today the refrigerator is packed with Swiss chard, spinach, carrots, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, citrus of various sorts, and apples ……You get the idea – pretty much foods that come right out of the ground or off a tree. In addition Singh Farms sells fresh eggs, bacon, local honey, moringa, and some prepared goods such as pastries and tortillas just to name a couple. Getting food fresh from the farm has been great. I believe it is partially responsible for bringing my blood pressure back to the normal range (I think the running has helped with blood pressure too). I wish it had not taken a crisis to get me acquainted with my local farmer.

And so as the pandemic has pushed me out on a ledge – initially looking down at possible financial ruin and even sickness and death – I have received a message. It is as Henry David Thoreau said: “Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify.” There is little that could be simpler than the act of walking, running, or doing body-weight / isometric exercises. The French press basically has no moving parts (mostly it’s just a carafe so steep coffee grounds in with a metal mesh plunger for filtration). And what could be more basic than an orange off of a tree or vegetables pulled from the ground just down the road from a nearby farm? What is even more amazing is this simplicity has been life-enhancing. Relative to pre-COVID-19 times I’m still out on a ledge – but now I’m looking up and looking forward. Looking up to God with more humility and looking forward to life in a simpler post-COVID-19 world.