We’ve never been here before, and it’s wild in every sense of the word. We are a species that has adapted, after many millennia living in synchrony with the wild, to thrive in the known, the cozy, the safe, the understandable, the sure thing, the comfortable. I know. I already cried unexpectedly once today, and I’m sure there’s more to come. Confronted with unknown threat—emotional, psychological, financial, and, of course, physical—our systems trigger the adrenaline, epinephrine, cortisol, and norepinephrine that accompany an acute stress response, also known as fight or flight.
Collectively, in a way unlike ever before, we are occupying a total wilderness: Unprecedented unknown. Unprecedented fear. Unprecedented instability. Unprecedented period. So, in this wilderness, what do we do to regain stability? To activate the dopamine and serotonin we so desperately need to counteract the flood of fight or flight drugs saturating our brains?
Here are a few things I’ve been doing:
- Let feelings be feelings: those of us who’ve practiced deep grieving already know these waves; they will keep coming and keep going. Do your best to ride them, listen to them, remember you are not them.
- Gather information about how to protect yourself and your loved ones, and be optimally cautious about its source and impeccable in its implementation. Enough said.
- Move stagnant energy. Breathe. Dance. Scream. Walk. Run. Yoga. Pilates. HIIT. Whatever gets your blood pumping will activate those good-good brain chemicals.
- Reach out and connect. Though physically more isolated than ever before, I see evidence everywhere I look of an overwhelming, infinitely powerful network of connectivity and compassion. We are stronger together and—suddenly, maybe more than ever before—we know it. I’ve been using Marco Polo, a video messaging app, FaceTime, Zoom, all the tools we are lucky to still have access to.
That’s it. That’s me in the wilderness (plus some serious garden planning going down this weekend).
But here’s the thing: I want to hear from you. I’m here for you. Leave your wilderness thoughts, fears, tools, angst below. We’re all in this together.
