Insecurities are all around us. ‘Will I be able to keep my job?’, ‘Will I run out of money?’ and ‘Will I get seriously sick?’ are just the first level of worries you’ll likely have. What about worries about others? ‘Is mum okay?’, ‘When will I see my grandchildren again?’ and ‘Where can I find toilet paper now?’ are further lines of worry you may be thinking about.
All of this leads to a situation where you will think that you have to DO a lot of stuff right away because the apocalypse is around the corner and you may run out of food. Of course, different people will react in different ways, more or less keep control of their reactions or break down completely from anxiety. This sounds very much like PTSD and in a way it could be, we just have not quite reached the P(post) of PTSD quite yet. I predict a lot of trauma and need for therapy when this is over, but you can do yourself some good with one simple action: Be good to yourself and stop running for a moment! I have found myself reacting to the crisis in a very particular way: I became super productive out of what felt like necessity. Since all or my income streams are people-based and required personal contact, I made work of shifting the bits I can to virtual assistance and then found even more ways to keep myself busy after that was finished. But then I saw some of my colleagues who have partners and kids showing signs of overwork from the sheer exhaustion of being around them all the time on top of trying to salvage their business. I took a good look at my situation and soon realised that I had poured all that anxiety into business planning (which was necessary, but not necessarily right now) and stopped in my tracks. I didn’t need to do any of this right now. First of all, I had to take care of my own mental and physical health – especially since I showed symptoms of a cold/flu/corona infection and needed much rest. Coming out of two weeks of constant activity I now felt ready to let go and – believe me – my mind was so happy to just settle into ‘doing nothing’ for a change. Yes: I still had to make sure I had food in the flat (friends supplied that and I’m eternally grateful), but it turned out that I had no need to keep running. I had overcome the knee-jerk panic reaction and allowed myself time to reflect and bumble. What does bumbling look like? Well: I’m doodling a lot, listen to music (avoiding talk radio and the news to a large degree), spend time cooking nice meals with what’s on hand, and speak to friends and family whenever I can. I urge you to try this: slowing down does wonders for the soul.
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These are my own thoughts on aspects of my work I feel strongly about. Archives
September 2021
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