WES Blog — Love (for yourself) during the time of corona

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It has been beautiful to see WES’ response on our Needs and Resources Assessment (which you can still take here), with so many community members offering rides, help with groceries, and “COVID buddies” check-ins. In the coming week or so, the Pastoral Care Associates will be working hard to connect needs with resources, and to reach out to some of those we haven’t heard from yet. 


We also wanted to share some resources for every one of us, whether we think we need them now or not. Times of stress and isolation are challenging for any person’s mental health, and this moment of social distancing–or as we are hearing it called so beautifully, physical distancing for the common good–is no different. 

https://kathleensmith.net/


You may be feeling overwhelmed by your experience right now, whether that is one of isolation and loneliness, or high anxiety because so many people are depending on you, or fear for your finances, or exhaustion from managing work and family life in an essentially contained space. We want to say first that you are not alone in those feelings. This great article describes how many people are responding to this time and how you can support yourself. You are not alone in experiencing them, and you don’t have to be alone in facing them, either. Consider joining one of our zoom check-in calls, happening daily M-F; attending platform virtually and spending time together in our virtual coffee hour; or reaching out to Amanda or Laura for individual pastoral care. 


We also wanted to share some specific resources that any one of us might find helpful. If you are finding that your anxiety is clouding your ability to make decisions, you might be helped by this article on “getting emotionally organized”–basically, using some tools from cognitive behavioral therapy and other techniques to feel more secure and centered. This article offers excellent, pretty universal ideas for how to help lower anxiety in the moment.  And this list of 20 questions to focus on may be helpful when you’re so worried that you aren’t even sure what to worry about. Many of these articles point toward some common practices: taking walks or sitting outside as you are able, remembering to meditate or simply to breathe without doing for a few moments, limiting your engagement with news media to once or twice a day, and staying connected with friends and family. We are aware that isolation can also make difficult or dangerous home situations worse, or can exacerbate significant mental health challenges or addiction challenges. If you need help, please reach out to Amanda or Laura, to a trusted therapist, to a friend, or to these resources: 

This is a challenging moment for our country–and although we may be alone in body, as we physically distance, we do not need to be alone in spirit. The Pastoral Care Associates, Laura, and Amanda are here for you…and even more importantly, you are here for each other. Your responses to the needs/resources assessment make that so clear: you want to support each other. Reach out and stay connected. 

We are in this together. 

Amanda, Laura, and the Pastoral Care Associates