At this moment I’m looking through Paige’s window. Paige lives in Boston, USA, it’s sunset and I see what looks like a church dome through her window while I hear traffic outside on her street.
swipe
I see a brick housing building outside Zara’s window in Edinburgh, Scotland. It’s grey outside and I see some birds flying in front of her window while I hear someone (Zara?) pottering in the background.
swipe
Roksolyana lives in Lysynychi, Ukraine, and outside her red window frame I see an orange tree full of oranges. Birds are chirping loudly and the sun is shining.

By now you might wonder if I’ve gone crazy? I have not, I’ve just found a website which is so brilliant that I have to write about it. It’s called Window Swap and the concept is really simple: people from all over the world have filmed the view outside their windows at home and have submitted these videos to the creators of the website. Anyone can visit the site (no registration needed) and have the possibility to open a new window somewhere in the world. When you do this you can see cities and countryside, daytime and evening, sunshine and rain on all different continents of this planet. How cool is that?

It has an immensely soothing effect on me, to see and hear life outside people’s windows. Millions of us all over the world are staying at home these days and seeing other people’s daily views makes me feel connected somehow. By hearing the sounds in different countries and watching different window views I almost feel like I’m traveling!

Since I started writing I have swiped some more and watched Daniel’s water fountain on his patio in Montréal, Canada. Steve and Megan also have a fountain in their beautiful garden but they live in Croydon, Australia. And Eric seems to live high up in a skyscraper in Hong Kong, his window view is absolutely breathtaking (and makes me miss Asia).

Paige, Zara, Roksolyana, Daniel, Steve, Megan and Eric: how are they doing in this pandemic? Have they, or anyone in their family or circle of friends, been infected with covid-19 or not? How many times do they look outside their windows every day and what are they feeling when they do that? Thinking about this sparks my imagination.

By virtually connecting to other people in their homes and looking through their windows I also realize how much I still live in my own bubble after 32 weeks of Long Covid. I am so incredibly focused (still) on my body and how it’s doing. I’m going through my days as good as I can while trying to remain resilient (sometimes I succeed, other times I don’t). My world has become small, I realize. Even connecting with friends (still) is sometimes too much.

I notice that I feel the need for a lot of alone time. And when I find myself alone these days, I don’t do much: sometimes I just sit and look outside my own window for a long time. It nourishes me, to just be in this way. It also feels necessary for me somehow, I find it hard to explain exactly why but it has something to do with feeling the need to calm down, digest and integrate what has happened to me.   

Just being feels like something that is disappearing more and more from our lives, would you agree? Our digital devices make sure that we always have a rabbit hole to disappear into instead. How often do we emerge from having spent time on our devices and feeling nourished, I wonder? I know I rarely do (except from watching Window Swap apparently).

I long to just be much more in my life. Nowadays this doesn’t make me nervous or anxious anymore. Sometimes it feels uncomfortable because I notice that I have some unpleasant feelings or sensations in my body. But I still want to be with them and just sit with it all. Observe what’s going on for real, instead of constantly distracting myself. The present moment is a cool and exciting space to fully be aware of and exist in! In this context I really like the words of the writer Edward Gorey who said:

My favorite
journey is looking
out the window

As much as I love traveling, I agree with him. Looking out the window, only doing that, automatically starts a journey into myself and my inner world. Becoming aware of what’s going on there is something that I believe I will never tire of!

The picture of this blog post is one I just took of my own window view behind my computer screen. I love the autumn colors in nature and I feel privileged to live among trees. Who knows, I might record this view too and submit it to Window Swap so other people can enjoy it too!

I will go now, and just be some more.
To be continued!

Thank you for reading ♥ and by the way: if you also want to open a window somewhere in the world, check out Window Swap!

Photo (the view from my window): taken with my mobile

This writing is part of what I call my Corona Chronicles. On this page you can find an overview of my stories since March 2020.