The first week of the shelter at home order, I cleaned out and reorganized my kitchen pantry cupboards. They needed it badly, and I justified it by saying I needed to inventory our food so I would know what I had on hand and what I needed to buy. Next, I cleaned out my bathroom drawers. No inventory needed here, but lots of half-used or expired beauty products to toss. I fluffed couch cushions that hadn’t been fluffed for quite a while and wiped mopboards. Though I had lived with disorganized cupboards and drawers, sagging couch cushions, and dusty mopboards for a long time, suddenly it seemed urgent.

I recently listened to a podcast interviewing the meditation teacher Sharon Salzburg. She had been hospitalized last year for sepsis and was very ill. During her recovery in the hospital, a physical therapist had her use a walker to traverse the hallway. At one point, the physical therapist said to Sharon, “It’s not a race, you know. You’ll go farther if you stop and take breaks.” Salzburg said this piece of advice stuck with her, not just for her recovery but for life. “It’s not a race, you know.”

The pandemic is not a race, and no one will win a gold medal for the number of cupboards cleaned. Though cleaning our personal spaces can give us a sense of control over something, we might consider how stopping to take breaks, however that looks, might be a way of showing ourselves kindness and then extending that kindness to others.