When you mentioned the pain we are all in and it's purpose I immediately saw a woman in childbirth.
Maybe our Planet is experiencing birthing pains. Or maybe our Planet is sick, like most of us, and it is a fever breaking over us now. Mother Earth certainly is traumatized and in transition.
All I know is the only thing that is real and matters is LOVE.
I have real trouble with hearing the numbers. It is causing me to detach and that feels awful too. I am hoping there is a Heaven and I am hoping all those souls are at peace now and at rest.
Lately I beging to feel the psychic presence of loved ones passed. Little hints. Now I am seeing how events have transpired to keep me safe here. Things like a back injury forcing me to isolate much of the time since December. Things like moving from one county where it is spreading to another where it is not yet. There are more, but I'm sure you get the gist.
I am beginning to believe that I will survive this. Beginning to feel like somebody up there loves me and that my part to play here is not yet over. And even if I am wrong, it's a good thought to hold.
Today I pray peace for all people everywhere. I pray guidance to all the officials who are working to keep us safe. I pray courage for all people to act for their individual & our collective highest good.
Checking in today.
Right now am posting from my backyard. I can hear the children of our back yard neighbor bouncing on their trampoline and giggling. They are burning off energy and are quite happy. My daughter has been playing ball with our Sheepadoodle (42 pound Old English Sheepdog/ Poodle mix) for the past half hour. He LOVES playing ball and will toss the ball back to you with his mouth after he fetches it over and over again. We have been laughing at him because he is a goofball. My other daughter and I took him on a walk this morning. He kept zig-zagging as he would pick up the trail of a bird or bunny. He prances sometimes while walking and is LOVING all this attention.
Being outside is a saving grace. I have been weeding and planting flowers throughout the past 7 days or so. I ate lunch outside today too after making a second round of egg salad this week. It's easy for everyone to create a sandwich for lunch whenever they choose. Last night I brought out a mochi custard baking mix which I had brought back from Hawaii when my husband and I celebrated our 25 anniversary a few months back. I had been waiting for just the right occasion to make it. Turns out a pandemic is the prefect time. Who Knew?
These are the little successes in the day I take note of, for they bring joy and a sense of peace. I will take every victory I can discover, it is so much more fun to notice the sweetness life can bring.
I’ve been thinking about a few members I haven’t seen on the site lately: @gracesinger @runestoneone @paula @maria-d-White @baba @natalie and @melanie
I'm also thinking about @lawrence in New York and @lynnventura. I know everyone lives in an area affected by the Covid19 pandemic to some extent and some are in areas being hit hard. Could you share a quick post to let us know how you’re doing?
@cindi I was so glad to see your post this week and am sending you light, love and peace of mind.
Much love and encouragement to you all.
Thanks for asking. Been staying in. I'm fine, excepting the cabin fever. ?
It has mentally/emotionally impacted me in the last few days. A lot of friends have tested positive and one death yesterday.
It feels like something in a few weeks helps a lot. Maybe a drug. Also a 45 day period, where it feels like the worst is behind us.
Sending everyone love and healing. Stay safe. You are loved.
@bluebelle Thank you Bluebelle, you're a dear to think of me and others. I'm home, but getting paid, with a committed employer and a safe place to live. I count myself as extremely lucky. My partner and I are both well, fingers crossed. My heart goes out to everyone who's going through a rough time. Things look grim, but as I think someone on this site said earlier, everything has a beginning, a middle and an end. This will end. Maybe when it's all over we'll plan that retreat I keep wishing for. Lawrence can sing some tunes (I'm assuming you can sing Lawrence, but if not an interpretative dance or a monologue will do). Cheers everyone, and be safe. xoxo
Hi everyone,
I live in New Jersey and our cases have exploded. Our town is reporting new cases each day. Tonight we learned of the first death in our town. The areas surrounding us are reporting new cases and deaths. For the first time I’m feeling afraid. I always viewed this virus with the respect it demands and I don’t take unnecessary chances. Tonight it feels like things are pressing in. You can feel the fear of many. I am praying for protection for my husband, children and grandchildren. For everyone really. I always feel better when I come here and I’m hoping to let some of this anxiety go. I try to look at this situation without panic because that’s not helpful. I think I’m slipping. I’m usually the one who helps everyone calm down. Now I’m in need of calming. It feels like a heavy coat over me. For those who can please send some light my way. I will ask for protection for you all. Stay safe and peaceful my friends. ❤️☮️
This is an EXCELLENT article from Harvard Business Review about what we are all feeling right now.
Believe it or not, it is likely grief. Here is a an exert form the article. It may be helpful for many here in the forum. The full article can be found in the link below.
If we can name it, perhaps we can manage it. We turned to David Kessler for ideas on how to do that. Kessler is the world’s foremost expert on grief. He co-wrote with Elisabeth Kübler-Ross On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief through the Five Stages of Loss. His new book adds another stage to the process, Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief. Kessler also has worked for a decade in a three-hospital system in Los Angeles. He served on their biohazard’s team. His volunteer work includes being an LAPD Specialist Reserve for traumatic events as well as having served on the Red Cross’s disaster services team. He is the founder of www.grief.com which has over 5 million visits yearly from 167 countries.
Kessler shared his thoughts on why it’s important to acknowledge the grief you may be feeling, how to manage it, and how he believes we will find meaning in it. The conversation is lightly edited for clarity.
HBR: People are feeling any number of things right now. Is it right to call some of what they’re feeling grief?
Kessler: Yes, and we’re feeling a number of different griefs. We feel the world has changed, and it has. We know this is temporary, but it doesn’t feel that way, and we realize things will be different. Just as going to the airport is forever different from how it was before 9/11, things will change and this is the point at which they changed. The loss of normalcy; the fear of economic toll; the loss of connection. This is hitting us and we’re grieving. Collectively. We are not used to this kind of collective grief in the air.
You said we’re feeling more than one kind of grief?
Yes, we’re also feeling anticipatory grief. Anticipatory grief is that feeling we get about what the future holds when we’re uncertain. Usually it centers on death. We feel it when someone gets a dire diagnosis or when we have the normal thought that we’ll lose a parent someday. Anticipatory grief is also more broadly imagined futures. There is a storm coming. There’s something bad out there. With a virus, this kind of grief is so confusing for people. Our primitive mind knows something bad is happening, but you can’t see it. This breaks our sense of safety. We’re feeling that loss of safety. I don’t think we’ve collectively lost our sense of general safety like this. Individually or as smaller groups, people have felt this. But all together, this is new. We are grieving on a micro and a macro level.
What can individuals do to manage all this grief?
Understanding the stages of grief is a start. But whenever I talk about the stages of grief, I have to remind people that the stages aren’t linear and may not happen in this order. It’s not a map but it provides some scaffolding for this unknown world. There’s denial, which we say a lot of early on: This virus won’t affect us. There’s anger: You’re making me stay home and taking away my activities. There’s bargaining: Okay, if I social distance for two weeks everything will be better, right? There’s sadness: I don’t know when this will end. And finally there’s acceptance. This is happening; I have to figure out how to proceed.
More can be found here:
@bluebelle Thanks for checking on those of us who haven’t checked in here! It is kind of you to think of us. When I woke in the middle of the night and saw this, I had a cat sitting on my head (who thought it was breakfast time) so I decided to wait to respond until I was awake and could clearly formulate an answer.
@lovendures I think the article you posted is very valuable and relevant at the current moment. Thank you for posting it.
As some of you know, I live in Germany. We have been completely at home for almost two weeks now and are fine. There is some economic uncertainty for us if this lasts for more than the next few weeks, but at least there is a healthy safety net and the government is on track to motivate employers to keep their employees on and at least pay them a reduced amount temporarily. My husband is working from home and I have a couple of young adult children at home and we actually are bonding over what is going on and look out for each other while also trying to give each other space to go about our individual activities. Generally, I feel fine and try to keep a regular schedule and work in some kind of physical activity every day to reduce stress levels. We are still able to take walks as long as we aren’t in groups of more than 2 people. I live outside the city and near a lot of nature trails, which makes taking walks pleasant. Mostly I worry for family that isn’t with us in the US and Australia and try to keep in regular touch to make sure they are ok. I still have to go shopping for food here since Germany isn’t as well set up for online grocery shopping as some places. I go once a week and find that more emotionally stressful than I would have thought. I know that it is a risk of exposure to us each time I do our shopping. That being said, we have worked out how to minimize that risk and get the job done.
The one funny thing that I have learned since the beginning of this process, is that German people all have decided that being stuck at home for an extended period means that it is time to clean out your basement. I have now heard this countless times from friends and family here. Germany is going to have some seriously clean basements by the end of the pandemic!
I’m sending light and healing to all of you every day during my meditations. I know there are some rough times ahead. Knowing that we are all in this together will help us to get through it. Take care of yourselves and be kind to yourselves and one another.
@lawrence and everyone, I'm glad many are sharing about how you've been feeling. I think it helps to talk about it. No matter how positive and hopeful we may feel about the future, the present day reality of our situation is ramping up and can feel oppressive. The shared grief is palpable.
@lovendures, thank you for that wonderful article on grief. I'll be sharing it with others.
Take care of yourselves, dear friends. Lots of love to you.