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Dear friends, Is it just me, or has everything seemed a little doom and gloom lately? Adele wrote about existential dread last week on the blog after having “what’s the point / what does it all mean?” come up in several conversations with both friends and clients. And in this week’s blog post, I wrote a little about how my brain’s feeling lately: quiet. I keep seeing news stories about how this winter is going to be the worst time in American public health history. Many businesses and services are taking a step back, and many people are preparing to spend the holidays alone (and likely the months to follow). Exhaustion. Burnout. Deep sadness. These are large, heavy feelings, and no list of helpful tips is going to fully do the job. I’m strategizing, lately, on how to cope in the most simple way possible: what can I add, and what can I subtract? First, the subtraction. What can I take off my plate each day, or for this season? I am guilty of trying to fight burnout with control, which usually leads to me forgetting to ask for help. What can you delegate this week? (#bossvibes?). And bigger--is there a task you’re dreading that you can let drop this year? (I’m looking at you, holiday cards.) One of the kindest things someone once said to me, in a very hard year, was that if I didn’t want to celebrate a holiday, I didn’t have to. So if you’re looking for permission to skip the cookie-baking-deck-the-halls routine for 2020, consider it granted. And addition. What can I add to my life that will make me feel better through these next months? Think small. Come up with a new, calming bedtime ritual. Re-decorate your work-from-home desk. Or start a tiny, ongoing creative project--a doodle a day, a one second a day video, or keeping a logbook--way less pressure than a diary. Of course, I’m only going to add things I look forward to doing. Otherwise, it goes right onto the subtraction list in favor of going to bed early. As we wait out this difficult time in hopes that the summer will bring an end to the pandemic, I’m trying to infuse my waiting with more deliberate living. I hope you will, too. Take good care, Dot
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