Love the Float & COVID-19
#momentsinnature #floatcenterlove
Living Life with the Virus and without Floating
“We are living in a very different world during COVID-19. I’m trying to find my way through this pandemic without floating just as we all are. I hope that sharing #momentsinnature and #floatcenterlove will make the path a bit smoother for us all.”
April 14, 2020
Floating has become a fixture in my life over the past few years. The COVID-19 pandemic has interrupted many things, not the least of which has been access to the float tanks.
I’m experiencing the pandemic in a different way than most people I know. I’m working full time and commuting back and forth to my essential job daily. Work has been challenging as we’ve adapted to the new realities with a minimal staff and enormous volume. The rest of my household is staying home and observing Oregon’s Stay Home, Save Lives order. My wife is working part time from home, my daughter is adapting to at home learning with the balance of the school year being taught remotely, and my Mother-in-Law has been laid off. Outside of our household my Mom is medically fragile and self-isolating at home, and my son has been laid off and is doing some remote side work from home.
In early April my first weekday off corresponded with a beautiful spring day. I was able to practice social distancing while getting in touch with nature. The water I found was rushing and turbulent, much different than the still and silent waters of a float tank, but very soothing to my soul in it’s own way.
I’ve been in contact with a number of my friends who own and operate float centers throughout the crisis. They are enduring their own struggles as they navigate temporarily closing their centers. This is a very challenging situation for an industry that is largely made up of small, independent businesses. We, as floaters, can do a small but impactful thing for the practice of floating that we love so much by providing some Float Center Love. I’m trying to use my voice with Love the Float to help spread the word in promoting #floatcenterlove with my series of short videos featuring peaceful Moments in Nature. These #momentsinnature videos are posted here and on the Love the Float social media outlets. In addition, they can be shared by float centers around the world to have some peaceful content on their feeds while raising awareness of how much our support means to them. (If you are an owner/operator of a float center reach out to me and I’ll get you the details!).
We are living in a very different world during COVID-19. I'm trying to find my way through this pandemic without floating just as we all are. I hope that sharing #momentsinnature and #floatcenterlove will make the path a bit smoother for us all.
Returning to Floating: An update from the middle of a pandemic and a world in turmoil.
June 14, 2020
We are living in a time of extraordinary pain as a society.
“Let’s not excuse violence, or rationalize it, or participate in it. If we want our criminal justice system, and American society at large, to operate on a higher ethical code, then we have to model that code ourselves.”
The events of the past several weeks have brought new light to a culture of racism that is certainly not new. I have been deeply troubled by the horrific and willful murder of George Floyd at the hands of a person we are supposed to be able to trust to “Protect and Serve” and the other events it has grown to symbolize. I’ve made a personal effort to try to educate myself and my family about the underlying issues and how we can participate in the changes we need in our society. I’ve learned that racism takes many forms from both an individual and societal level, and been disheartened to realize that I have unwittingly been complicit in it. I’ve learned that ideologies that I’ve taken to heart can actually help perpetuate the problem. Concepts such as being “color blind”, thinking of us all simply as the human race, and the belief that since I’ve never been willfully discriminatory and try to be a “good person” equates to not being racist, are not enough to do my part to end systematic racism and in fact can be counterproductive to the cause. Perhaps the most enlightening thing I have done is to read White Fragility: Why it’s so hard for white people to talk about racism by Robin Diangelo, I can’t recommend it highly enough.
After 13 weeks I have made my long awaited return to the float tank. Our world is beginning the slow process of reopening, but we are still a very long ways from normal and have a long road ahead of us to get there. Here in the Portland area one center has opened and others are preparing for that day. Read about that experience in my post.
COVID-19, #momentsinnature, and #floatcenterlove posts (in reverse chronological order)
Float Conference 2021 is upon us and it brings front and center how much change I’ve experienced since last year’s conference! A major skeletal failure followed by surgical reconstruction and changing jobs after 25+ years were the mileposts. One thing that I am very sure of, floating has continued to be a cornerstone of my life’s journey.