Handout on Coping During COVID
First, this newsletter is dedicated to the frontline folks–doctors, nurses, EMT’s, police officers, transit workers, grocery store workers, sanitation workers, community leaders–who are out there keeping us safe. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Second, it’s dedicated to you and your wellbeing at this surreal and challenging time.
This was a difficult newsletter to write because any response to the COVID 19 virus calls for more than light musings. The dramatic changes the world has undergone in the last two-three months has left most us dumbfounded. It’s frightening, you could even say petrifying, and we can only speculate but really don’t know what the final outcomes will be on any front–the health impact, the social consequences, the financial hit, etc.
Aside from the very real losses we will be facing, the havoc this upheaval is causing on our nervous systems may be one of its most challenging outcomes. It’s not just the dire health concerns that the pandemic poses, but also the uncertainty we are facing. We are in uncharted waters. When the level of uncertainty is severe and persistent enough, it locks our nervous system into high alert. Nevertheless, it is important for us to remember that when we are actually faced with crises, we are more resilient than we project we will be. We tend to underestimate our ability to overcome hardship.
Even so, not surprisingly, we need to implement coping strategies that fit the situation. Note–we (Rebecca and Gioia) may be ‘experts’ on stress, but we are not experts on this situation. We say that because there are medical experts (CDC/local health administrators/government leaders) who can provide guidance on ways to manage this preventively and medically. In addition, because this is a ‘novel’ situation for us all, we can only rely on what we know from our past experiences and what we’re hearing from others now. So we’ve compiled a handout of suggestions, Creative Coping with COVID 19, that we see as most helpful, one of which includes staying grounded and figuring out what stabilizes us. We also have a list of COVID 19 affirmations that Gioia put together.
If you have other ideas, please feel free to send them to us or upload them to our Facebook page. Stay as safe and well as possible.
Blessings and love to you all, Rebecca and Gioia
Art Directive
Imagine that you are a tree that is grounded with strong roots. Draw, paint, or make out of clay/sculpey what that tree and its roots look like. Share that with us and with the rest of the world as well on our Facebook page. We’d love to see your tree.