We are living through times of tremendous change. Please give yourself some grace. Changes are happening at what feels like an accelerated pace right now, and these changes are affecting us on every scale. We are encountering new and different things personally, locally, nationally, and globally. We see change with big important things and small insignificant things. From taxes to toilet paper, very little seems to be staying the same. To navigate this change, we are having to adjust. Adjusting requires effort. Some adjustments mean that we have to move our bodies differently through space as we maintain safe distances. Other adjustments are mental, as we reconsider our expectations and plans. We have to adjust emotionally as well, as feelings like grief, celebration, worry, and hope rise up in response to all of these changes. Before the pace of change accelerated, many of us were able to ride a wonderful cushion of inertia. We knew the general shape of our daily and weekly routines, and could anticipate certain touchpoints in the year, like holidays and vacations. We didn’t have to adjust as often, because we had a familiar rhythm to our lives. When something did change, we had a lot more time and attention we could put into the process of adjusting, adapting, and coping. Now, however, our resources for adapting and adjusting are much more scattered. Many of us have daily rhythms that have been thrown wildly off kilter. Our efforts are going into adapting to dozens of changes all at once, and as soon as we have some of them worked out, another round comes in for us to process and adjust to yet again. This is why we need to give ourselves grace. This is a dance. We are dancing through this period of change, and moving in response to what is happening around us. Give yourself permission to relax into it just a little more, and to find a sense of ease even in the middle of things that don’t always feel easy. We are all going through this together, please remember to ask for help and support when you need it.
