I am very blessed to have navigated these last 12+ months of COVID-19 and still have an upbeat outlook on life.
I live in a nice neighborhood. I work with many people who never lost their job. In fact, (fortunately for us, but unfortunately for the world) my family and businesses continue to flourish despite global uncertainty.
For the work that is entrusted to me, I am personally thankful. I also have been gifted with some crystal-clear clarity on many things since our world got turned upside down in 2020. One of the biggest lessons of all is that people needed therapists, teachers, writers, and thought leaders more than ever.
People still need Us. And we still need People.
As someone who has spent more than two decades working within the family therapy and support field, our role in our community became more needed than ever in 2020 and will continue well into 2021 and on. As mental health issues became more pronounced, so did our job security. Our client list exploded, and our appointment calendars were filled almost to a breaking point. As the demand for the services and guidance we offered grew, so did our income. A reward that only came with working very long days, weeks, and months.
Education for anyone with school-aged kids also took an unexpected turn. Some students embraced the changes and flourished under the distance learning model, but just as many did not. Again, my little family was blessed. My youngest child safely attends online learning from our home and has the support of both parents and an occasional adult sibling. We had the luxury of working from home and only had to go out when we chose to go out. For many people in my daily personal and professional world, the changes brought on by the pandemic have been inconvenient, but not devastating.
I can see how many of us would think the pandemic has not been that bad. Or even, that the fallout of the pandemic is over.
However, I also have the fortune of insight through my role as a therapist and counselor, and I work with clients every day who are not having a smooth transition with these new challenges. The pandemic, and the continuing roadblocks, frustrations, loss, overwhelming grief, and financial struggles are very real for far too many people.
These pressures can make even the strongest personality crack when they drag on for weeks, months, and now, over a year. The stress of choosing between working or staying home to make sure your child can complete their online learning is draining.
The pressure and guilt of having to choose to put your child in daycare, knowing that could expose your entire multigenerational family to the virus, is soul-crushing.
The thought of losing your job, because customers just are not utilizing whatever your company has to offer, keeps people awake at night.
And when a job is lost, and income disappears, the act of applying for unemployment (that still ten months later has not paid out one dime) wreaks havoc on one’s self-esteem and the family unit in more ways than I can detail here.
Trying to ignore the judgmental people who (in the most uninformed way possible) claim that people like you and your family are “getting rich” off a stimulus check is exhausting. Especially when that check is desperately needed to pay six months of past due rent, which leaves you still two months behind. Pandemic Fatigue is dreading picking up the phone because, every time you do, you learn that someone else you know has died from the virus. Or lost their life to street or domestic violence.
I had a client who lost three cousins in one day. One to gun violence, two to COVID-19. Another client’s mother and grandmother died within minutes of each other, both on the COVID-19 ward.
We live in one country, but our worlds could not be further apart.
If this is not proof that we all need to lean on each other more, I don’t know what is.
People still need Us. We still need People.
If the pandemic has not been “that” bad for you, that absolutely does not mean that the pandemic is not, well, a pandemic. Maybe it is your turn to help someone else. It is so very needed. Today, please take some time to take stock of all that you have because it’s all a blessing. But then look around to those outside of your circle. Are there members of our community who are suffering from a profound irreparable loss? Could they use a helping hand? A kind word? A blessing? Blessings are meant to be shared, and here’s how you can share them as well.
It falls on all of us to make sure we do what we can to help others in need.
Kayla: A Modern-Day Princess Series Book One in this amazing FIVE BOOK series is COMING April 2021!
Kayla: A Modern-Day Princess: is a heartwarming story about family, role models, dreams, and discovering a determination for growth. This five-part diverse picture book series shines the spotlight on a little Brown girl who loves musical theatre and never lets anything get in the way of her dreams. It seems that everyone else has an idea for who she should be, but in the end, she discovers that she is the one who gets to decide.
The story also reveals the very special family dynamic that Kayla shares with her mom- a hard-working woman who struggles with the guilt of not being as available for her young daughter as she would like. But as the story progresses, Kayla and her mom realize the impact of valuing the time they have together as well as the importance of seeing each other acknowledge (and pursue) their individual dreams. {ages 4 to 8}
GO HERE to preorder your copy of Kayla: A Modern-Day Princess (Spring of 2021) Written by veteran author, Deedee Cummings, the Kayla: Modern Day Princess series is inspired by her own real-life princess and Broadway actress, Kayla Pecchioni.
