I am not okay. Who is?
On June 1, 2020, I was protesting with my son at Lafayette Square, in front of the White House. My view was obstructed, so I missed the crowd running past us to get away from the first drops of tear gas. We moved quickly across the street, adjacent to the direction of protesters and enforcement (nothing law-related about this) to safety.
All week, I had things to do--a website to complete, coaching marketing profiles to upload, sessions to prep, job work but was in such a paralyzed "emotional" state--anger, sadness, frustration, nervousness, hopelessness, and even, fear. Then, it was clear to me that for my clients, friends, and family how the COVID-19 shut down may have been for them (fearing the worse outcome).
Over the week, I scour the internet to figure out what I could do with those uncomfortable emotions. My greatest distraction of hiking was NOT working. So, I wanted to share the tips that helped me "breathe" just a tad bit better.
1. Do Something Different. Stuck on the couch feeling paralyze? Speak to neighbors you've never spoken to, try a different exercise, or call (not text) someone.
2. Honor What You Feel but Channel those Emotions for Good. I used social media as therapy to connect, vent, express, share, and gain ideas for empowering next steps and wrote a response to my job's CEO with ideas how to help staff deal with returning to the office and talking about racial inequality.
3. Get Out of Your Head. Changes to your physical redirects you out of your head. Remember being upset in school and splashing cold water on your face? Deep breathing and meditation of positive messages helps, too.
I returned the protest site several times (the last time to leave a sign on the gate around the White House where I was almost gassed), but leave you with this (however, I would say the numbers are probably 50/50)...
"Life is 10 percent what you experience and 90 percent how you respond to it.” ~Dorothy M. Neddermeyer
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