Two Things to Help You Cocoon

In this post, I share two things to help you cocoon (stay inside, stay safe, and grow). This post was written in 2020, at the beginning of the stay-at-home order when we all let go of appointments, meetings, and events, but the advice is still applicable for any season when you need to stay home, whether it’s a sickness, an injury, a snowstorm, or something different.

Oh, how quickly things change.

Two weeks ago, my calendar was full of scribbles for the month of March, April, May and beyond. Yours too?

Today, I’m cocooning. Today, most of us are cocooning.

And I’m learning what it really means to cocoon.

It’s active. (Think back to grade school lessons about what’s going on inside as a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. Busy little place.)
It’s safe.
It’s transformative.

So I’ve been wondering how I can walk with joy and grace in the upcoming and necessary cocooning days?

Dear reader, I know you are already figuring this out. You don’t need one more meme, blog post or email that tells you to play board games, watch light-hearted television, do a puzzle, or take a walk. You sure don’t need another reminder to wash your hands.

But maybe you could use some encouragement to open your Bible. Maybe you need one more reminder of God’s Word.

Here are two things to help you cocoon:

1. Draw a line.

If you have a paper calendar, try this. Draw a simple line, (choose a lovely spring-like color like pale green or sky blue or pink) through the appointments and activities you need to cancel or were forced to change.

Then write one thing that has blessed you in place of that activity.

Like instead of that dentist cleaning, maybe you read a book to your toddler.

Or in lieu of that early morning workout at the gym, you walked around the neighborhood.

As you draw that line through the appointment or meeting, say a prayer for the business or the individual you were planning to meet. Perhaps you will want to write a list of these people and businesses so you can continue to pray for them.

If you happen to be completely digital, you can still do something similar. Be creative. (Or maybe you want to begin keeping a paper calendar again.)

2. Write a cocoon mission statement.

A what? Stick with me for a minute. Maybe you’ve never even had a mission statement. Something that succinctly states your why.

As a Christian, mine has always wrapped around Matthew 28:19:

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 28:19

But in each of my vocations, I have a more focused mission, depending upon the season of life I’m living.

When I was a mom with wee little ones, one of my primary missions was to raise them up to know the Lord.

As a writer, my mission is to write words that give glory to the Lord, that bring readers closer to Him, that may lead unbelievers to know Him.

These days, my cocoon mission statement is a little tighter. I’m still continuing to write because I can absolutely do this and keep my social distance. Of course, I’m continuing to fulfill all my other vocations as I can–as a wife, a mother, a neighbor, a sister, a daughter-in-law, a volunteer, a copy editor.

But like many of you, I’m adding beautiful to-do’s to my mission.

Phone calls. Not just a text. Picking up my phone and talking to friends and family. Finally, there’s time.
Hand-written letters.
More spiritual journaling.

In the cocooning days to come, I’m going to explore what these things look like. I’ll share them with you as I practice.

I’d love to hear about your days lately. How have you been living in your cocoon? Is there activity? Safety? Transformation?

A simple reminder here about transformation:

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV)