By Patricia Elwing, Edwall, WA
What are the three words most spoken in the English language?
If you guessed “I love you,” you too are a hopeless romantic and likely a loving human being. However, in 2020, I believe the three most used words may have been, “Due to COVID…” Make sense? Everyone has their story of how the events of 2020 has affected their lives, and this is mine. Spoiler Alert: Mine has a fairytale ending (or should I say a new beginning).
As a self-employed single woman, I had built a beautiful business and a wonderful clientele over the last 22 years. My passion and spiritual journey had revealed my work to truly lie in the service of others. And so, I followed my heart and left a 9-year career as a legal assistant, to study anatomy and massage therapy. This eventually led to my work as a physical therapy aide, massage therapist, energy worker and yoga teacher. Retreats and soundbaths had become an integral part of my expanding practice. Both of which involve large groups coming together, breathing, moving, healing, hugging, eating together. Due to COVID, these things were cancelled.
Time to get creative…to move forward and sustain my career in this shifting reality. Synchronistic as the following events may be, on March 1st of 2020, I had just completed a Practitioner course in Biofield Tuning, in Palo Alto, California. This training included techniques for offering remote sessions to clients, i.e., training to do sound healing work over the phone. This could not be more timely, as due to COVID, we were soon to be locked down, masked up and socially distanced. Yoga studios were closed, massage therapists were hit hard and I found myself out of work “due to COVID!”
Now, with lots of time on my hands, I thought about my singleness. I had enjoyed being single over the last several years, yet I had finally arrived at a point in my life where I was feeling whole and also ready to be in relationship. I had long been doing the work to love myself and open my heart and was ready to find a life partner, my soul mate. Then, suddenly, I was going through this lockdown on my own. The introvert in me embraced the alone time, finally a chance to read that stack of books, and my dog loved the additional walks he received each day. Yet, my life had been full of connection, daily. I was used to hugging my clients, hugging my yoga students and friends every day. But suddenly…no contact. Due to COVID, no social life was the new MO. How long would this last?
Many of us took a deep turn towards social media during 2020. And I was happy to find Matt Elwing was following me on Instagram one afternoon. Matt and I had graduated from the same high school in Nevada, the class of 1984. We had never really known each other in high school; however, we were excited to finally be introduced 30 years later at a 4th of July parade in Nevada. Dressed in our pirate and wench garb, we chatted it up as if we’d known each other for years. As we road on that pirates’ ship float, we both recognized a connection between us, it held a je ne sais quoi…an indescribable certain something quality about it. As we were each in separate relationships at the time, our meeting became just a good memory of a new friend…which we now know to have been a moment in time that would eventually reveal deeper meaning.
During our initial messaging on Instagram, I told Matt about my work and offered to give him a session. He told me a bit about his own spiritual journey and said, “sign me up.” After his first remote session, I spoke with Matt in depth. He asked if he could continue to call me, on a personal level. I loved the sound of his voice and our conversations. I gladly said “yes.” Over a short time, we began to share our hopes and dreams and we soon found a deep connection starting to form between us. There is so much more, near and dear to my heart that occurred over the next 2 months, serendipitous occurrences that were both passionate and revealing of a true love coming together. We were engaged in July 2020 on my birthday. By mid-August I had moved from the midtown of California’s capitol city to a rural town in Washington, where I have found love and peace and nature.
In the midst of a world-wide scare, I was one of the lucky ones who transformed my career and found love. Time and space cannot keep those apart who are meant to be together. Matt lived in Washington and I in California when we began our conversation during COVID.
Grateful am I to have been one of the few yoga teachers from Northern California who was able to continue teaching online yoga classes. Matt attended those classes from Washington. Thank you Zoom! And, while Zoom is not ideal for instruments to resonate their healing tones, I, like many others now, have found a way to create the sound that transfers into healing vibrations. A new practice of course, but it is my community offering and we all need self-care and connection. Eventually, with Matt’s help, I have acquired sound equipment and cameras to support online sound meditation. Currently, I offer online workshops and look forward to in-person events in the near future.
Matt and I learned a lot about each other as we remodeled his childhood home these last 6 months, finding that being present with each other is the greatest gift. We created a sacred space in our home for our yoga and meditation practice. We also enjoy archery, camping, boating and dancing. We will be married in Maui on May 8, 2021. “Due to Covid” we had this opportunity.
