Friday Feeling.
Howdy, friends!
Another week has passed.
Our friend Katie said the other day that the days go by fast and weeks go by slow. We thought that was spot on because we feel like this has been longest week E-V-E-R.
Anyway, we wanted to check-in and see how you are doing. We don’t know about you, but we've felt a shift in the energy around this pandemic. We're seeing a lot of anger and frustration.
With any disaster there are stages to these things when it comes to feelings. At first there is shock and disbelief followed by anger, and then eventually acceptance that you will be okay. Unfortunately, we have to feel it all, which means it makes sense if you are feeling angry right now because you’ve been staying home for 30 plus days, wearing masks outside, getting tired of virtual hangouts and missing human connection, and asking yourself the continual question: ‘When will things get back to normal?’
BUT! Let us present you with something to help you with perspective. We read this article in the Wall Street Journal about posttraumatic growth. In the article it states that people who endure during a disaster more than often come out on the other side with an increase in self-confidence. We felt such a huge sense of relief when we read this. Knowing that all the frustration, panic, anger, and being frightened is natural, but also weirdly beneficial.
We are in no way making light of this situation because again people are losing their lives and jobs. But for us, if we know that we can come out of a disaster with more self-confidence to do bigger things, would that not help dispel some of our anger at this moment? And with that anger subsided, we can continue to be helpful to our community, our family, and myself.
Anyway, we've been doing a few things lately that have helped shape our frustration into positive action.
1) Journaling. We started writing down each day what one thing has made us happy and what one thing has made us frustrated. It’s just a simple sentence, but the reflection we get from reading what we had written is sobering, yet calming.
2) Cooking. We know this is simple for us because it’s our job, but we've made more room for things we haven’t cooked. Last night we made twice baked potatoes. DAMN we love those carbalicious things, but we haven’t made them since, well, never. We had so much fun cooking a naughty comfort food it literally made our day!
3) Supporting our community. Whether it’s sharing social media posts for local businesses, howling at 8pm for our healthcare heroes in snow, or writing our grandmother a letter because she turns 90 today and we can’t see her. These little actions fill our tank with so much joy!
4) Exercising
5) Being present. We're personally a busy body and find joy in getting things accomplished. BUT DAMN it feels good to relax and be present. To not feel the stress to perform or overachieve literally is the most freeing thing ever. Plus, it gives us so much joy to stop in the middle of typing an email, get down on the floor with Charlie, and blow on her belly.
Curious, what are some things that you’ve being doing to keep a positive mindset?
We are all in this together, and we find it encouraging to see what other folks are doing to channel their energy. There is no right or wrong way to feel. Just remember we will get through this and we will better because of it.
We hope you have a great weekend!
