I reached out to a friend the other day to see how she was doing. Like many, she wasn’t doing well.  She hadn’t slept well.  She was anxious.  And moreover, she was feeling understandably powerless, alone, disconnected, and scared in the midst of this global crisis we’re all experiencing. 

I know many of us are feeling the same right now.

I know because I’m seeing the posts and comments on social media with people sharing how scared and alone they feel.  People fearing for their families’ health and safety.  People fearing for our most vulnerable populations.  People fearing this will never end. 

I’m feeling the collective grief and sadness.  The kids who are missing graduations and proms and friends. The people who are sick.  The horrific predictions of how this all could go and how many we could lose. The people who have become severely ill and those who have died.  The healthcare workers and “essential employees” who are putting their own lives at risk for ours.  The people who have lost their livelihoods and don’t know how they’ll survive when this is over.

And the ambivalence of waiting. Many things feel as if they’re moving faster than ever, yet we’re at home, not knowing what will come next. Not knowing when this will end.  Not knowing what or who will be left when it does.

Then that terrible feeling of aloneness.  Despite this shared experience with billions across the globe, a dozen Zoom calls a day, and for some, multiple quarantine buddies, there is an unbearable sense of being caged.  For the many who are physically alone, the loneliness is even more raw and real.

I know, because I’m right there with you, feeling all the feelings too.

I was working at home full time, but now I’m on furlough, for up to 10 weeks. I’m figuring out how to be unemployed and I don’t have a new routine created yet, so I’m feeling out of sorts. 

Although I have a job to go back to for now, I know that few of us will avoid some pain from the financial devastation that’s coming. I’ve also been battling a mysterious fever that comes and goes but doesn’t get high enough to really worry.

Nevertheless, it’s unsettling.

My daughters are feeling caged in, bored, and their raw, teenage emotions are being directed mostly at me.

And in the middle of it all, my sweet cat, Alice, died unexpectedly.  Grief upon sadness upon restlessness upon fear.  At times, it feels overwhelming, and like it may never end. 

What we need right now is support – to feel our feelings and know we’re not alone.  So, when I reached out to my friend that day, as she shared how she was feeling, I listened. I set aside my own thoughts and really heard her.

Then I asked her, How can I support you? 

How can I support you? The five little words we all need to hear right now.

Yet something so basic, so fundamental to our existence as a social creature, often feels so elusive. We’re taught to be independent and strong, to do for everyone else but not to need anyone else.  Until we can’t do it anymore.

That’s not going to work in this current reality.  We need for our bodies and minds to be strong to get through this, and for what we’ll be called to afterwards. To do that, we need to allow all the emotions to come. We need to feel heard and cared for in the midst of the chaos.  We need safe spaces to process until we can return to our Divine purpose.

So I ask you now…How can I support you?

Because despite all our collective feelings of disconnection, powerlessness, aloneness, and fear, we have access to an innate strength and power – CONNECTION.

I’ve put together a Crisis Care Package, with a collection of supportive offerings.

I’m also available and have open space on my calendar. I invite you to consider scheduling a connection call with me to support whatever is happening in your life right now.

Together, we can get through this.