Hi!
Ok, what day is it? Friday? Star date: March 27, 2020.
How's everyone doing? Everyone "coping" ok? Yeah, it's perfectly fine if you're not. But I would prefer if you were, so I'm going to try to help.
Before I get into it, it's time for the sakura (cherry blossoms) to spread their beauty in Japan. Unfortunately the traditional gatherings of friends underneath their blooms to meet for food and drink and good cheer (Hanami) is officially canceled due to COVID-19. But, we can still think about the meanings behind sakura and hanami.
In Japan the Sakura represents a time of renewal and optimism at the end of winter and start of spring, and remind us that life is short and beautiful. And since life is short and beautiful, no matter what's going on on the CNN news ticker (turn it off....really.....just turn the news off), we should fill it with meaningful time.
I'm going to first ask you to accept that shit sucks. It's going to suck for a while. We haven't even really gotten the full picture of how much suckage is going to occur in the world, including in each of our own little corners of space.
I use acceptance a lot in my work with my patients living with chronic illness. There's a whole treatment in psychology called Acceptance & Commitment Therapy. There's some good stuff in there that I want to try to share with you as best I can in blog format.
At the foundation of being to accept shit sucks is being able to divert your attention and actions to meaningful activities. Well what's a meaningful activity? People like to make lists on the internet, but in my opinion it's a very personal decision as to what is meaningful to you. So. Follow me.
First. clear your mind of any judgment toward the ideas you write down. Don't decide "well I can't really do that" or "that's silly" or whatever label your brain might want to interject as you do this exercise. Just write things down.
What really matters to you, deep in your heart?
What do you want to do with your time on this planet?
What sort of person do you want to be?
What personal strengths or qualities do you want to develop?
Think about these across your work or education including workplace, career, education, skills development, etc.
Your relationships, including your partner, children, parents, relatives, friends, co-workers, and other social contacts.
Your Personal Growth/Health, which may include religion, spirituality, creativity, life skills, meditation, yoga, nature; exercise, nutrition, and/or addressing health risk factors like smoking, alcohol, drugs or overeating etc
Leisure, such as how you play, relax, stimulate, or enjoy yourself; activities for rest, recreation, fun and creativity.
To help with this exercise, download and print out this form:
Values Clarification Worksheet
These don't have to be monumental things. Think small, actually. What are things that you can do, today, that are meaningful or valuable to you? It might be organizing a drawer, or getting on top of your mountain of laundry that may have piled up (hello, guilty!). It might be to start taking a walk every day outside, or doing some gentle stretching after you wake up for 10 minutes.
It doesn't matter. It can be anything so long as it feels meaningful to you.
Often times these techniques are peddled as miracle cures, the latest fad to make you happy faster than ever! I wouldn't ask you to do something like that. Because it's BS. But...I do know this works. I use it myself in my life with Crohn's disease. And all this isolation and physical distancing allows us more time to do this type of stuff. Our excuses of being "too busy" might not hold as much water these days, depending on your circumstances.
It's a start and will bring us some sense of normalcy in a really abnormal time. Give it a try for at least a couple of weeks. If you find it unhelpful, I have some more tricks up my sleeve.
-T2
Ok, what day is it? Friday? Star date: March 27, 2020.
How's everyone doing? Everyone "coping" ok? Yeah, it's perfectly fine if you're not. But I would prefer if you were, so I'm going to try to help.
Before I get into it, it's time for the sakura (cherry blossoms) to spread their beauty in Japan. Unfortunately the traditional gatherings of friends underneath their blooms to meet for food and drink and good cheer (Hanami) is officially canceled due to COVID-19. But, we can still think about the meanings behind sakura and hanami.
I'm going to first ask you to accept that shit sucks. It's going to suck for a while. We haven't even really gotten the full picture of how much suckage is going to occur in the world, including in each of our own little corners of space.
I use acceptance a lot in my work with my patients living with chronic illness. There's a whole treatment in psychology called Acceptance & Commitment Therapy. There's some good stuff in there that I want to try to share with you as best I can in blog format.
At the foundation of being to accept shit sucks is being able to divert your attention and actions to meaningful activities. Well what's a meaningful activity? People like to make lists on the internet, but in my opinion it's a very personal decision as to what is meaningful to you. So. Follow me.
First. clear your mind of any judgment toward the ideas you write down. Don't decide "well I can't really do that" or "that's silly" or whatever label your brain might want to interject as you do this exercise. Just write things down.
What really matters to you, deep in your heart?
What do you want to do with your time on this planet?
What sort of person do you want to be?
What personal strengths or qualities do you want to develop?
Think about these across your work or education including workplace, career, education, skills development, etc.
Your relationships, including your partner, children, parents, relatives, friends, co-workers, and other social contacts.
Your Personal Growth/Health, which may include religion, spirituality, creativity, life skills, meditation, yoga, nature; exercise, nutrition, and/or addressing health risk factors like smoking, alcohol, drugs or overeating etc
Leisure, such as how you play, relax, stimulate, or enjoy yourself; activities for rest, recreation, fun and creativity.
To help with this exercise, download and print out this form:
Values Clarification Worksheet
These don't have to be monumental things. Think small, actually. What are things that you can do, today, that are meaningful or valuable to you? It might be organizing a drawer, or getting on top of your mountain of laundry that may have piled up (hello, guilty!). It might be to start taking a walk every day outside, or doing some gentle stretching after you wake up for 10 minutes.
It doesn't matter. It can be anything so long as it feels meaningful to you.
Often times these techniques are peddled as miracle cures, the latest fad to make you happy faster than ever! I wouldn't ask you to do something like that. Because it's BS. But...I do know this works. I use it myself in my life with Crohn's disease. And all this isolation and physical distancing allows us more time to do this type of stuff. Our excuses of being "too busy" might not hold as much water these days, depending on your circumstances.
It's a start and will bring us some sense of normalcy in a really abnormal time. Give it a try for at least a couple of weeks. If you find it unhelpful, I have some more tricks up my sleeve.
-T2