{"id":6921,"date":"2020-06-08T12:19:50","date_gmt":"2020-06-08T16:19:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/?p=6921"},"modified":"2021-05-30T15:17:08","modified_gmt":"2021-05-30T19:17:08","slug":"365213-weeding-out-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/365213-weeding-out-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"365+#213: Weeding Out Covid-19"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Days-365207-Coronavirus.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-6773\" src=\"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Days-365207-Coronavirus-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"121\" height=\"121\" \/><\/a>As destructive as Covid-19 has been, it&#8217;s forced me to learn some new lessons during this time of change. I\u2019ve become more:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Grateful for many people (essential workers, family, friends)<\/li>\n<li>Grateful for the lifestyle I take for granted (my health, a steady income from Social Security and a pension, ability to work from home\u2026)<\/li>\n<li>Aware of my white, middle class privilege<\/li>\n<li>Focused on the Fall elections prompted by the increasing dysfunction of our federal government (while also remembering that that\u2019s the source of my Social Security)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Days-365213-weeding.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-6948\" src=\"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Days-365213-weeding-150x150.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>But, because of cancellations and physical distancing I\u2019ve also had more time at home this Spring \u2013 and that brings me to weeding. Weeding my small vegetable garden has been therapy and taught me:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Not all \u201cweeds\u201d are weeds.<\/strong> Just because a little green spout is not from a seed I had planted doesn\u2019t mean it is worthless. The problem is recognizing the wanted weeds (tomato seedlings from our compost) from unwanted weeds.<\/li>\n<li><strong>I can\u2019t volunteer for everything.<\/strong> Often I needed to pull out even the desirable \u201cvolunteer\u201d seedlings to make room for the intended crop to grow. Life needs space and time. I can\u2019t do everything.<\/li>\n<li><b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Days-365213-strawberry.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-6950\" src=\"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Days-365213-strawberry.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"60\" height=\"78\" \/><\/a>Look out for impostors.<\/b> I have a small strawberry patch but last year I got very few strawberries. Only after some googling did I learn to differentiate the real strawberries (white blossoms) from the mock strawberries (yellow blossoms). Frustration can prompt lashing out with brute force at false enemies. It takes careful discernment to figure out which actions will truly last the test of time.<\/li>\n<li><strong>When to act swiftly and when to be patient.<\/strong> When an opportunistic bug invades a particular plant, I must act right away lest it spread to the rest of a relatively healthy garden. Yet, plants take sun, water, and time. Seeing the fruit of my efforts will take weeks, months, generations. Demonstrations can be an immediate response, but systemic change takes the persistent effort of many over time to make a difference.<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/Days-48-54-poison-ivy-.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3664 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/Days-48-54-poison-ivy-.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"76\" height=\"85\" \/><\/a>Poison Ivy can be useful.<\/strong> I got a bad case of poison ivy. (Some of those weeds really were bad \ud83d\ude41 ). I decided to let itching be my friend. When speaking I can be too long-winded and judgmental. I let the itching remind me to be concise and kind.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s really important?<\/strong> In the midst of keeping up with life (and this blog) I summarized the goal of <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/\"><em>Living Lightly<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0with the following mission statement.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Simplify-plaque-large.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-6936 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Simplify-plaque-large-222x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"98\" height=\"132\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Simplify-plaque-large-222x300.jpg 222w, https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Simplify-plaque-large-756x1024.jpg 756w, https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Simplify-plaque-large-768x1040.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Simplify-plaque-large-1135x1536.jpg 1135w, https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Simplify-plaque-large.jpg 1444w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 98px) 100vw, 98px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<em>Minimalism is not so much getting rid of clutter (although that is a worthy goal) BUT rather having enough. That requires a mindfulness of what&#8217;s really important in life and not letting my worth depend on my possessions, accomplishments, or the admiration of others. As Elsa would say, &#8220;Let it go.&#8221;<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Life is more than being a good minimalist, but I think living lightly holds the seeds of what\u2019s important. Have you ever written your life&#8217;s mission statement?<br \/>\nIf not, why not now. Let it grow.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As destructive as Covid-19 has been, it&#8217;s forced me to learn some new lessons during this time of change. I\u2019ve become more: Grateful for many people (essential workers, family, friends) Grateful for the lifestyle I take for granted (my health, a steady income from Social Security and a pension, ability to work from home\u2026) Aware [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[47,29,17,50,49],"class_list":["post-6921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-process","tag-health","tag-intangibles","tag-musings","tag-politics","tag-time"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6921"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6921\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6961,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6921\/revisions\/6961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}