It’s been a week now that Manitoba has slipped back into a restrictive and isolating shutdown, only getting more restrictive as the numbers rise. We all understand this is for the protection of ourselves, our friends and family, our community, and our most vulnerable, but that doesn’t mean we don’t still feel alone.
It’s okay to not be okay.
This pandemic has been hard. It has brought about many difficult changes, challenges, and realizations about the way we think, feel, and behave. We’re isolated from the warmth and comfort of being around another person, casual interactions with others to recharge our social battery, and knowing that there’s someone else out there feeling just like us.
It's okay to not be okay.
Grief is suspended in the air, lounging loosely around us. We feel it in our chests, see it in our eyes, smell it in the breeze on an empty street. Loss upon loss upon loss can create such an isolated bubble that we don't know when we're going to pop. What makes it worse is that we cannot use our usual go-to methods of reaching out, being with others, gathering.
It’s okay to not be okay.
The serendipitous thing about this pandemic is that we’ve also learned that we are less lonely than we think we are. Although we are isolating from one another, we know that everyone else is doing the exact. same. thing. We’re all isolating. We’re all feeling lost. We’re all dealing with changes. We’re all navigating a new normal, at least for a little while.
It’s okay to not be okay.
That means we can all be a little kinder to ourselves. A little kinder to others. A little kinder to our loved ones and our pets and our community. Being a little kinder might mean that we’re not so quick to call ourselves lazy when we want an extra five minutes in bed because the news was tough to hear last night. Being a little kinder might mean we help a stranger. Being kinder might mean being alone together, snuggling, or enjoying the scenery. Whatever your kindness is, it’ll make things a little easier.
And remember, it’s okay to not be okay.