Hello! You've been on my mind a lot lately, whether that means staying home and isolating, or continuing to go to work if you're in an essential occupation.
First of all, thank you for doing your part.
It seems like ALL of the emotions are engaged right now, coming up and clamoring for attention.
I had a chat with my DEI colleague, fellow trainer and consultant Sarah Alexander, who also happens to be a counselor. She gives a great overview of the emotional rollercoaster since the stay-at-home order changed our lives, and I was certainly able to relate (perhaps you can, too).
We dove into all the emotions that no one else wants to talk about: situational depression, hatred, shame, and grief, and the gifts they bring us so that we can cope in these stressful, anxious, and strange times.
This is the first of a series of videos I'm calling Let's Talk About Emotions.
Also on my mind has been the ever-present emotion of sadness. It's such an important emotion these days, to help me let go of my expectations for what I thought this year would look like, or should look like, and to help me accept the way things are right now. It's been an emotion I've been welcoming in a lot lately, as each week demands I adjust to a new kind of normal, and I realize anew just what is no longer a part of my world.
Grief also has a welcome place at my table. As uncomfortable as it may sometimes be, saying goodbye to things I have no control over feels like it keeps me in touch with what I do have. Goodbye, favorite coffee shop, comfort-food restaurant, popping out to see friends or to stop by the store on the way home. Goodbye cross-country plane trips to see family, or even going to the hospital to see a sick grandparent. Goodbye for now, at least.
If you'd like support with listening to your sadness, grief, depression, and even the suicidal urge, it may be the right time to take Befriending Sadness, my online course about the sadness family. It starts Monday, and I'm offering a special social distancing + emotional closeness discount of 20% off.
Listen and lean in. That's all your emotions are asking you to do. How are you doing with it?