Friday, June 4
By Katherine Schneider, for the CVPost
If you’re feeling compassion fatigue, you’re not alone.
We’ve all been through a lot– anxiety, fear, grief, and running on empty, to name just a few of the emotions that have run rampant in the last 15 months. Being isolated has also narrowed our focus and made us concentrate on those near and dear to us.
We were told to mask and not touch, further distancing ourselves from others. Zoom meetings get the business done, but they don’t promote much interest in each other and they do allow one to multitask while others are talking.
We’ve come to realize there is no finish line for COVID.
But we’re finally, hopefully, moving beyond lock downs to a new normal. As you run, walk, roll or creep into this New Normal, don’t forget your empathy for those who aren’t yet as “out” as you or aren’t in your pod.
People expressed many hopes during COVID for what they wanted to do with that time, from cleaning closets to becoming a better person. The jury is still out on how many closets got cleaned and whether we’re emerging as better people.
Some questions re: the ‘new normal’
Ask yourself the following questions:
- As I anxiously and/or joyously go back to in-person meetings, worship, events, recreation, etc. am I leaving the virtual door open for those who need to participate that way? It takes thought to create a new hybrid that works for everyone, but it also keeps everyone at the table so the event is better.
- Can you share your privilege by bringing an at-home friend a souvenir when you go on vacation? Maybe they can’t go on the vacation, but can you bring them pictures, stories, fudge? You get to enjoy it again as you’re sharing the memories.
- What small risk can you take with someone you haven’t seen much lately? A call where you ask “How are you?” and listen for at least three sentences before telling your COVID story? Can you allow yourself to feel, hear and respond to their pain?
- Can you eat a meal, watch a movie, read a book about someone from a cultural group different from yours?
- What empathy and kindness are coming your way? Can you return it or pass it along, one little act of kindness at a time?
Maybe Glen Campbell’s “Try a Little Kindness” could be the theme song for our New Normal.