There’s this puppy named Kayla. An adorable shepherd mix, with one ear slightly bent and a perfect wet nose. She loves to run, play, smell... she needs to do those things to be happy and healthy.
Unfortunately Kayla is stuck in a 5 ft x 5 ft cage at the pound, and she’s slowly losing herself.
Your mind is that caged dog.
The COVID psychological thriller took so many things from us. Things we love, things we need… and we’re losing ourselves.
Can’t really blame us. How about some perspective:
What’s the worst punishment the U.S. legal system has devised? Solitary confinement.
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How long do astronauts train for social isolation in outer space? Three and half years.
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Yikes. If we want to keep our sanity we need to throw the kitchen sink at our mental health.
We have zoom calls, social distanced picnics, walks. That ain’t gonna cut it.
We need to talk out loud A LOT, to feel heard, to have perspective on who we are and who we’re becoming.
How do you get perspective on yourself? How can you see yourself especially when you know you’re at such high risk of depression and anxiety?
The process of deteriorating mental illness is gradual and very difficult to perceive from within.
Just like Kayla doesn’t see the new hardened cynical dog she’s becoming, how are you supposed to see the gradual impact COVID is having on you?
How often do you really see yourself... not counting a curated TikTok or IG story? Maybe when you’re brushing your teeth or washing your hands.
Social interactions usually provide the feedback loop. Your words, combined with the nuance of your tone and facial expressions, elicit similar nuanced reactions from your peers. You learn immensely from these micro interactions.
It’s an everyday evolution on how to be graceful, thoughtful, funny, effective at communicating… in other words a competent social human being.
Zoom calls, 6ft distance and masks make that "everyday evolution" difficult.
We don’t see how our mannerisms are changing. The way we move, talk, and interact with others.
Have you noticed that people are off lately? Shorter fuses, less eye contact, more adversarial.
Yes, sure, masks help reduce the spread of disease. But if we want to keep our mental health, our grace, and our social bonds then we need to see faces, smiles, and subtle body language up close.
Sounds like that won’t be happening any time soon, so, like many things in life, if you want to do something right you’re gonna have to do it yourself.
Use the Resilience Doc to, among many other beautiful things, keep a watchful eye on yourself.
Study your mannerisms and evolution then course correct with new habits.
After a certain amount of time at the pound can Kayla ever really get back her natural canine joy?
After a certain amount of time distancing can we ever really get back the natural joy of unconfined socializing?
Maybe... but there's no guarantee.
The Resilience Doc takes the same amount of time it takes you to brush those teeth each day.
Considering what’s at stake why not throw the kitchen sink at the problem, just to be sure?
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