Permission Slip to BE YOU

How are you managing? Really, let me know. Leave a comment or send me a message.

Has your experience of the stay-at-home order been what you expected? Better? Worse? I keep seeing posts about “feeling like a failure” or “doing nothing again” and thought I’d create a permission slip of a blog today. Because the fact is, this is something new to all of us. We don’t have evidence for or previous experience of how this is all supposed to be.

Dear YOU,

You can feel annoyed.

You can feel annoyed with your family. You are most likely in very close quarters. This makes sense! Use your words! Communicate your frustrations so it’s less likely to boil over.

You can feel sad.

You can feel sad about canceled plans. It is not the time to compare “losses” or “look on the bright side.” What is important to you is allowed. You are allowed to be sad about canceled prom, sports season, weddings, showers, parties, trips, etc.

You can be happy.

You can be happy you aren’t in your office. Maybe you are loving not going into the office. This could be an experience that really opens your eyes to if you like and want to continue at your current job. Maybe you’ve found that you don’t dread waking up in the mornings. That’s okay!

You can be sad

You can be sad you aren’t in the office. Maybe work/colleagues serve as a break/distraction from home. Maybe you’re laid off or furloughed and you are financially struggling right now. It is okay to desire and ache to be back in the office.

You can feel totally unmotivated.

You can feel totally unmotivated to work out/spring clean/ organize. You might be exhausted. This is emotionally exhausting. Whether you are alone or living with a clan of family members. Again, this is a new experience. It is a collective traumatic experience. We sometimes underestimate the power of emotional exhaustion. Don’t feel like a failure for your experience, take advantage of flits of motivation to work on your to-do list.

You can feel like this is your time to shine!

Maybe you are feeling extra motivated, feeling like you have extra time to workout, craft, do that side gig you’ve been putting off. Don’t feel guilty about your spurts of energy! Also, allow yourself to chill/relax/rest when needed, too!

You can feel envious.

You can feel envious of your friends working from home while feeling proud of the work you are doing if you are still on the front lines.

You have permission to feel all the feelings through this time.

Frustration, anger, calm, happiness, envy, numbness. Search for joy. Reach out to others. Connect via games, technology, social distance meet-ups, pets, new books, a new Netflix series you’ve never had the time to watch.

Hope you are all staying safe: physically, spiritually, and emotionally. Stay well and reach out!

Cindi Miller