Mixed emotions arise as our province and country start to open up again from Covid-induced lockdown. Relief about dwindling case counts and accelerated vaccination rates. Grief around multiple losses. Hope about returning to some kind of normal. Fear that “normal” will be fleeting. Excitement about in-person events and activities. Anger and Despair about the inequities exposed and highlighted by this pandemic. Yearning to reconnect with faraway people and places. Concern that climate change will be a lower priority.
Let’s reconnect with kindness, and remember to:
Celebrate life passages such as birthdays, weddings and graduations with gusto, while bringing into community the losses experienced in isolation, without proper goodbyes and collective rituals of mourning.
Reconnect with the ones we love, while taking the time to talk about the grannies, grandpas, parents, aunts, uncles, siblings, children, and friends who died alone during Covid and from Covid.
Embrace the freedoms that come with a second jab, while staying humble to the privilege. Much of the world is not yet vaccinated.
Fill our hearts with the joy of being with children, while extending support to their exhausted parents and teachers.
Spend precious time with the elderly, while honouring the long term care staff who have been there for them.
Live life to the fullest, while recognizing the cracks in our social fabric, and reaching out to those struggling with the ongoing economic, psychological, political and health impacts of the pandemic.
Resume the joy and adventure of travel, while doing what we can to minimize the impact on the environment.
Resume social activities while giving each other time to adjust, relearn social skills, and figure out individual comfort levels with physical proximity and larger gatherings.
Reconnect with the external world without losing hard won connections to our inner worlds through this introspective time. Maybe we do not have to rush back to crazy schedules or push through introversion, shyness or social anxiety.
Enjoy the physical activities we have been missing without judgement about diminished fitness levels and Covid weight gain.
Balance fear with hope as we navigate the uncertainty of future outbreaks.
What does reconnection bring up for you?
Bonney Elliott 
Reconnecting should give us the opportunity to repair the tears in our fabric of a social net. Unfortunately, each of us will have to do our own repair. Governments, Medical and Pharmaseutical agents are forefront in their selfish goals for power, money or status.
The exposure of lies, deceit and greed will continue to be the topic for at least another generation. Censorship will ignite more anger through “conspiricy theories” than it will calm the anxieties of the vast majority of people. Governments will be thrown out and often replaced by even less competent rivals.
My own self care has been boosted by community, and the addition of targetted help for my life problems. Both ManKind Project.org and The Inner Journey have been life tines over the last 11-12 years but came short of my total needs. NARP (Narcistic Abuse Repair Program) has become my latest form of self recovery. I highly recommend this for anyone who feels they have been bullied or abused as a vehicle to help centre you on self and normalcy. I have been the victimn for too long! I will not convert to being the bully, which is a frequent response to bullying and abuse. I will keep my communities informed of my pregress.
I look forward to the increase in social activity even though I am still very much introverted. I look forward to the freedom of movement, travel and opportunities. I look forward to the joy of community!
I look forward to the joy within family and friends.
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