photo courtesy Pexels
The work of transformational change is hard – even more so in 2020. Here’s how we recharged, restored, took care of ourselves, rekindled our fires this year (plus, an invitation to share more strategies):
“reading, writing, and puttering around in the wee hours. I love the quiet of that time. It’s as if the world’s molecules have slowed down and created more space to just be.” –Sousan Arafeh (Cohort 17) Interview
“…thinking about my future plans (buying a sailboat and island-hopping in the Caribbean), I thought of this sermon from 2016… I hope it reaches anyone sailing through a storm who needs a reminder that you are not alone.” –Kevin Ewing (Cohort 8), Through the Storm
“When we feel connected to the world around us, we experience more joy and belonging, less depression and less anxiety, all of which increase our thinking, creativity, well-being and generosity…” –Rx: Nature
“I’ll close with a couple of activities [Lisa Graustein] recently shared with her network that take only a few minutes and may help you stay grounded and connected…” –Bill Graustein, Our Adaptive Challenge – A Geek’s Perspective on COVID-19 in Community
“There are administrators and educators who have an opinion of mindfulness, meditation and yoga as woo-woo, and kind of hippy-dippy. They’re not. It’s science, it’s mathematics, physics, metaphysics – it’s culture, it’s nature. Research has shown yoga and meditation to decrease stress and anxiety while improving memory, focus, and physical health…” –Shefau Dabre (Cohort 12) Interview
“Some of these only take a few moments: family time, expressing gratitude, exercise, sleep, meditation, deep breathing, enjoying nature, stretching, savoring food, good conversation, beauty, reading, watching some TV shows or movies, taking a bath, and connecting digitally with friends and family.” –Relly Nadler Psy.D., M.C.C., in Leadership in a “VUCA” World
“I am a listener. In this unprecedented time, I have been turning to meditation, mindfulness, poetry and other writing to help me listen – to myself, loved ones, colleagues, nature. I’m playing guitar more – currently learning Kate Wolf’s Give Yourself to Love. (Besides the fact that I love her music in general, that title for certain is always good advice.)” –Jerry Silbert (Cohort 1), COVID-19 Coping, Tenderness, and Listening
“…it’s easy to get trapped in the cycle of being online all the time, and this is especially true when all our work comes (and stays!) home with us. Make a plan that delineates when and where you’re working, when and where you’re not working…” –Kyisha Velazquez, MS, LPC (Cohort 16), Working from Home During COVID-19: How to Keep Your Cool
“Gather, quiet your spirits… Comfort one another… breathe, breathe, breathe at a steady pace. Visualize that loved person, whisper to them – or to yourself – comforting words as many times throughout the day as you want and need to…” –Jolyn Washington-Walker (Cohort 9), Sharing H.O.P.E.
“Reading really feeds my soul. I love to cook, I cook a lot. And I sleep – I love to sleep. I’m also very lucky that I’m in relative isolation but with my partner, New Haven Indy managing editor Tom Breen. We live together. We have what we call “good love,” which might be schmaltzy, but it’s true… Also small joys. Everything is blooming right now, because it’s springtime…” –Lucy Gellman (Cohort 24) Interview
“Every day, I am trying to: practice gratitude, exercise, drink enough water, eat greens (not just chocolate). I am reaching out to friends and family and trying to be fully present for them when they reach out to me. I am trying cultivate joy and to focus on the positive things, and to laugh and dance.” –Mercedes Soto (Cohort 5), Collectively Grieving What We Have Lost
“So it is with music… It helps us recall happier times; it helps us through difficult times… It helps us to feel.” –Robert Francis (Cohort 3), Sequestering and Music
“Scientific studies show that breathing and heart rate synchronize much like in mediation when we hear rhythmic language and recite poetry… Feeling becomes meaning. Poetry can heal. Or, as the great thirteenth-century poet Rumi put it, ‘the wound is the place where the light enters you…’” –Rafael Campo, in Medicine and the Soul
“Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely…” -Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes in Made for These Times: Dr. Estes’ Reminder, from Niyonu Spann (Cohort 15)
“To stay healthy, I am reminding myself of what we can change – and what I can change. Today, I’m reflecting on how my path to Restorative Practices helped me appreciate the commonalities, and the differences between my own and our students’ unmet needs.” –Cameo Thorne (Cohort 27), Meeting Our Needs Through Restorative Practices
“Prayer, meditation, yoga, biking, hiking, and working out on a regular basis. Making sure there is time for my family, friends and loved ones. The things that serve to recharge and rejuvenate me, in order to remain sane (well, as much as possible!) and give me fuel to be prepared for the negative influences in the world.” –IfeMichelle Gardin (Cohort 2) Interview
“…PTSD? You can’t pray that away. You have to do the work. I had to learn what was post-traumatic stress disorder, what was post-traumatic slave syndrome. What are the behaviors in me that are showing up that I don’t recognize? I learned to self-reflect, identify the issue, and educate myself about the situation. This process helps me to stay proactive and administer the self-care I need…” –Odell Montgomery Cooper (Cohort 15) Interview
“Create more slowness, stillness, spaciousness and even silence in your network interactions. Even when connected, we can practice different kinds of pacing and spacing that can help people to restore, maintain or increase their energy.” –Curtis Ogden, in Network Weaving in a Time of Breaking, Unraveling and Hunkering Down
“And now we will count to twelve and we will all keep still. For once on the face of the earth, let’s not speak in any language; let’s stop for one second, and not move our arms so much…” –Pablo Neruda, A callerse (Keeping quiet)
“Over the past 591 days, never missing a single day, the very first thing I do each morning is thank God (i.e., my own personal conception of a Higher Power, Universal Energy) for a new day, meditate and write a gratitude reflection. I then text that reflection to 20 people.” –Chris Cole (Cohort 12), The Gratitude Difference
“…If you or your staff are struggling, have a conversation about the loss and grief. Many of us do not resist change, we fear the feeling of loss. Acknowledge we are all grieving, and create space for processing it.” –Cynthia Rojas (Cohort 4), Taking Back Some Control
What do you love doing, who are you, what do you want to be remembered for at the end of your life? Getting your core values clear, and then understanding that’s the ‘from-below’ – how do those show up in my life and where are they in conflict. –Burnout, Compassion and Remembering Purpose, with Leah Weiss, PhD
Lastly, please share with us in the Responses section of this Recharge post invitation:
What is one (or more) of your go-to strategies or tools that’s helping you get through these challenging days & months? –Coping, comfort through _________. (Please fill in the blank.), from Lara Herscovitch (Cohort 10) and Gail Torresquintero
Curated by The Circle’s creative director & editor Lara Herscovitch (Cohort 10). To reach Lara directly: thecircle@clpnewhaven.org or Lara@LaraHerscovitch.com