Sakura in Ochi, Kochi, Japan

There is a shortage of toilet paper everywhere with the coronavirus outbreak and people confined to their homes. I get it, I bought my own extra supply, just in case. In speaking with a friend about this, she asked, “why do people need that much toilet paper?”

I hear people are even fighting over toilet paper at some stores back home in Canada because they need more! As you are reading this, and think, I need more toilet paper, then you are part of this group, I’m included, who feels they need more.

Toilet paper is representative of the fear and scarcity thinking we have in our society. We want more, but how much is more?

This constant striving for more as better has no end. It’s like a carrot dangling in front of us. We try to reach for it and can’t. When we understand that we are the ones holding the stick, then we can decide when it’s time to stop and when we eat.

Has toilet paper become our security blanket in this time of uncertainty and unpredictability?

In Japanese society, the approach to living, work and crisis, is “we are in this together.” It’s been relatively peaceful and uneventful in my small town on Shikoku Island with the pandemic, with schools closed and all events and activities cancelled for the past two weeks. Even with signs in some stores saying, “one toilet paper package per person”, there is still ample toilet paper. Residents are mindful that they live in a community and are not alone.

Who can predict the future, especially now? Do we sit paralyzed watching the latest COVID-19 update on our phones and become more scared and depressed? Or, do we realize that not knowing the future, has always been the case. Project management spreadsheets, the latest technology and expert forecasters have convinced us that we can plan for the future with almost 100 percent certainty. That is, until now.

Planning usually starts from a future set point and works backward to the present. I believe the current coronavirus pandemic will make us be present more and step forward more lightly toward the future. I am hopeful that opportunities can come out of the crisis.

What if we are overwhelmed with the coronavirus news and don’t know what to do?

As Oprah Winfrey says, what is the next right step? Are there ways we can ensure the health and wellbeing of ourselves and our communities?

She also suggests if we don’t know what to do, we need to move toward things that light us up and “spark joy” as organizational expert Marie Kondo would say.

In doing this, we will notice that it is often the small, intangible things that spark joy. Playing with your kids, calling a friend you haven’t spoken to for a long time, listening to music that makes you feel like dancing, or reading a book you’ve been meaning to get to.

What sparks joy in your homes and hearts?

For me, it’s being grateful that I am here and healthy, and noticing the nature around me. The sakura cherry blossoms are starting to bloom.

Sakura teaches me about the natural impermanence in our lives. It reminds me that despite the current pandemic, the sakura continue to bloom powerfully and gloriously for a short time. We must be present and enjoy them while they are here, like our lives that are fleeting.

I’ve wanted to write more often. I start. It’s time, and we have the time.

One with toilet paper in Ochi, love, Caroline