Reconnecting with My Creative Family During the Corona Virus Lockdown

Do you know what your family members are up to during the new normal?

 

Reconnecting with family members during the COVID-19 lock down has been a great experience for me. I wrote about it in the post:

How Many Families Will COVID-19 Bring Together?

I’ve been trying to stay productive since I live in California, and we’re on a stay-at-home order. Our Governor (Gavin Newsom) is not messing around with this virus. KUDOS to him!

Since I’ve been reconnecting with different family members, I’ve been reminded just how creative and talented that so many of them are. 

I’m discovering what things some of my out-of-state family is doing to keep themselves busy. It’s been so much fun, reconnecting and seeing what they’re up to, I decided to share it with all of you.

Creative Family Member

My sister Charletta lives in Chicago, and she’s off work from her job until the end of May. So while her eldest daughter in North Carolina is pondering what to plant in her garden, Charletta has been pulling out boxes of all her old poetry.  

Letta is an older diva like me, so trust me when I say it’s been decades since she broke out the treasure trove of poetry that she wrote in another lifetime.

While I’ve always been the writer in the family, Charletta’s creativity has always been singing (although she was also quite the dancer in her day).

She wasn’t interested in making a video, so the most I could do was convince her to recite the poems in an audio file, then I added some images, like a slide show. 

Creativity at Work

We put a little creativity to work and had fun laughing over the project we put together. The poems cover the period both before, and during the time her and my brother-in-law were raising their four daughters, who now have families of their own.

Some of the poems she read me, I’d already heard her recite, way back when, and some I had never heard. 

I have to admit, she showed a lot of maturity in her writing, even at an early age, especially with the more-weighty subjects. Like most young teen girls or women coming into adulthood, she wrote a lot of poetry about love and relationships. 

Introducing Letta B.

One of my favorites was the one you can read if you follow the link below. It’s called “A House a Little Out of Hand” and it’s funny and very relatable.

Though it was written long before the covid virus, it undoubtedly applies to a lot of households today.  In fact, every parent (especially moms) can relate to the house in this poem.

I hope you enjoy it, and if you do, don’t hesitate to let the author know, by clicking the LIKE button on Youtube, and share it with someone else (preferably another mother).

You can take advantage of the time we find ourselves living in, whether you’re already close to your family members, or you have trouble maintaining a connection with them, for one reason or another.  

COVID-19 has proven to us, that there is no such thing as “going back to normal” so start thinking about what you want your new normal to look like, and who you want to have in it. 

Is there anyone missing from it? Then check in and connect with them. You may not be able to connect with everyone you want, but at least you’ll know you tried.  

DEAR READERS:

Since the writing of this particular story, a lot has happened and I invite you to visit my Justiss Goode pen name and Medium profile and read some of my recent personal essays and miscellaneous life lessons that I know you will enjoy and benefit from.

Creativity Is Also Contagious So Spread Some Around

How are you expressing your creativity during the current pandemic?

During this crazy pandemic era, there is no better time than to start exercising the creative side of your brain.

Do you enjoy poetry, especially the kind that speaks to real life situations that people can often relate to?  Of course you do! Those are the best kind, right? What's not to love about a little creativity?

In a moment, take a little time out of your hectic life, and follow this link to a fun and entertaining poem on Youtube. 

It was written by my younger sister, who goes by the poet's name of: Letta B.

I actually encouraged Letta to recite her collection of poems that she recently came across. Afterwards, we paired a couple of them with some images and made fun slideshows. Her creativity fed off mine, now she's a poetry reciting maniac!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, it's great to have reconnected with family members amidst all the COVID-19 craziness.

Letta is one of the out-of-state family members I made reference to. Another post where I also mention this is in the article:

How Many Families Will COVID-19 Bring Together?

If you want to see how contagious creativity is, just give it a try. Do something creative, and don't just keep it to yourself. Spread it around. This is something really worth spreading.

How will you tap into your creative side?

Whether you believe it or not, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US has some type of creativity within us, Some of us may just have to look a little harder to find it.

Enjoy Letta's poem, and feel free to leave a comment either here or on my Youtube channel.

How Can We Stop Feeling Taken for Granted and Underappreciated?

Human emotions are a funny thing, and the problem is that everyone has them.

Human emotions are typically the cause, when  misunderstandings occur between people. Emotions are a funny thing; sometimes they are justified, and sometimes we’re just being weird and over sensitive.

For instance, we may sometimes feel unappreciated by the people in our family and inner circle. You've probably felt that way.

In fact, don’t you sometimes feel like you’re being taken for granted? Of course you do! You wouldn’t be human if you didn’t.

Feeling Taken for Granted

It never ceases to amaze me how we humans can always see particular flaws in others, yet we fail to see the flaws in ourselves.

If I asked you to name just 2 people in your life that you feel take you for granted, you would probably start spilling names out of your mouth like an old fashioned slot machine!

Now, suppose I were to ask you to name 2 people in your life that YOU take for granted.

Unhuh! Now all of a sudden you have memory loss and no one seems to come to mind. Or maybe you’re just suffering from a case of “denial.”

Don’t feel bad; denial is another human emotion that we’re all guilty of at one point or another.

But the next time that you feel like you’re being taken for granted, ask yourself who YOU have taken for granted today, then, make it your business to go and do something about it!

Feeling Underappreciated

Feeling appreciated is something that every one of us longs to feel, whether we admit it to ourselves or not.

The key to feeling appreciated is learning to show appreciation for others, including ourselves.

That means you don’t have to wait around for someone else to show appreciation for you.

You can and should appreciate yourself. Do you feel appreciated by the people in your life?  Maybe they feel the same way.

Start Appreciating Others

During the current COVID-19 crisis, there has never been a better time to show appreciation for others, and stop taking them for granted.

Ask yourself, "How can I make people feel more appreciated, more important, more valued, and less alone?

One of the easiest ways to help someone feel this way is to take an interest in them. It doesn't have to take a lot of time, just a little genuine interest.

Do it, whether it's your family members and people in your immediate household, or a friend, neighbor or co-worker.

If the current corona virus situation won't allow you to show appreciation to someone in person, then find a way to reach out in some other way.

Stop and think about how sad it makes you, when you feel taken for granted and unappreciated. Now, go do whatever you possibly can to make sure no one else has to feel that way.

Not only will you make them feel good, but you'll help yourself feel better also.