It is February. It is cold. It is snowing. All the time. The ice is slippery. What is the purpose?
Maybe to distract us from the global pandemic. The masks. The variants. Climate change.
Pick your poison. And hang in there. Spring will be here soon, maybe. If we’re lucky. Smiles.
This is my Christmas cactus, wishing you a blossoming season.
Brainstorming with your therapist, literally, about weather storms, and metaphorically about emotional storms, relationship storms, professional identity storms, loss of meaning storms, is a great way to prepare yourself for change. If there is one constant, it is ‘this too shall pass.’ And since that’s true, why not be creative and agentic about it, as opposed to passive and victim like? It can be playful, like a game, if you let it. Even with Covid, dire and sad as that illness appears to be, there are things we can do to plan with spirit, with energy.
if so, you are not alone
If you click on the phrase “here it is” you will find out about cognitive behavior therapy, which can calm your nerves in a crisis (like the one we are in now). Take good care and do all you can to reduce your exposure to the corona virus, and if you think you have this virus, chances are you can treat it at home, one day at a time, as you would a flu or a cold, speaking with a physician if you can, and monitoring your fever and staying rested. But if you have underlying issues that concern you, managing your treatment and your anxiety at the same time will be important to your recovery. Bottom line is that if you are in decent health, and you tend to be a little anxious about your health anyway, study the article in the ‘here it is’ link for a nice overview of how to put your anxiety in perspective.
the growth of this new illness. One day there will be a vaccine and this particular crisis will be over for good, but in the meantime, let try to have some fun if possible, stay cool, stay inside unless we are exercising outside (6 feet from anyone else if possible) and to quote Tom Hanks, “take it one day at a time!”
To any woman (or man) who has felt unjustly preyed upon and invisible at the same time, or worse yet, devalued by those around her/him for seeking any kind of recognition, understanding or protection, this is YOUR day! Harvey Weinstein, the film producer who not only used, abused and manipulated the women in his professional sphere, and in addition used the legal profession to silence them, spread rumors and innuendo about them in order to damage their reputations (and diminish any credibility they had in order to fight back ), is now under arrest at Rikers Island. Like many people with Harvey’s pattern of sexualized domination, he proclaimed “I am innocent” as he was led away by the police. This is typical of people with this particular form of moral blindness, and indicates a serious lack of communication throughout our society, in our institutions and in our families. This pattern of the strong preying on the weak, the rich preying on the poor, the arrogant having contempt for the vulnerable, parents controlling and abusing their children- has gone on for much too long. With Me Too given this incredibly surprising and unexpected gift today in court, all of us will have more opportunities to transform abuses of power. We currently have government officials struggling with basic concepts of what is right and what is wrong, what is true and what is a boldfaced lie, and to whom we should turn for help, as we strive to care for our natural environment and all life forms that inhabit it. Hopefully Me Too can set a new standard of justice.
