And Now… How Do We Think About Re-entry?
It’s spring. We can feel the changing, evolving season. Light that lasts longer. New growth appearing. A taste of warmer days to come. People venturing out of hibernation.
It’s been a long winter, a long year, and we’ve become accustomed to the many ways in which we’ve been separated from one another. Many of us are wondering what this season of re-entry–the emerging from separation–will look like. There’s a feeling of uncertainty, a forgetting of how everyday relationship with the outside world is done. Used to be done. Should be done. Can be done.
Some of us feel the questions more intensely than others. Instead of embracing the new freedom, we look at it with a raised eyebrow. Our habits of caution outweigh our impulse to engage. That can lead us to wonder in a self-critical way–about ourselves, our resilience, our ability to adapt.
We know that distressing situations can trigger our feelings of anxiety and depression. When this happens, we do well to remind ourselves of strategies that can help manage these feelings. We may have learned some of them through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and the practice of Mindfulness. While they’re simple skills, they’re not easy to maintain when we’re feeling stressed. Our efforts, however, can be rewarding.
Here is a reminder of some of those useful strategies:
- Stay in the present–don’t ruminate about the past or try to predict the future
- Focus on what you can control and set aside what you cannot
- Appreciate those things that are going well
Maintain healthy habits of eating, sleeping and exercising - Seek out pleasurable activities and meaningful connection with others
- Extend an attitude of generosity, both to yourself and to others
It seems fortuitous that our emerging from this highly restrictive year of the pandemic coincides with our calendar’s emergence from winter into spring. Access to vaccines and lower numbers of serious illness and death from the virus are allowing us to move about more freely. Sunny days are inviting us to come outdoors, shedding our raincoats and boots and woolen scarves.
So, is there a way to step into this re-entry, this emerging from separation into reconnection, with lightness, the spirit of spring? Can we bring what we’ve learned in this past year, about ourselves and others and reality itself, to a clearer and more compassionate understanding of what life is about? Will our inner conversations and our relationships with others thrive in this warmer climate? Will our sense of gratitude and hope speak to our experiences of loss and grief? Will we agree to move forward with a smile – one that may still at times be hidden by the masks we agree to wear but will surely be visible in our eyes.