On Monday the UK government again eased Covid restrictions and the four-month-old national lockdown. One of my family members told me that in Hamburg, my hometown, the newspapers described this day in the UK as ‘Lucky Monday’.
One of my neighbours posted “The opening of society brings new chapters and a fresh beginning,” and invited people to a new group called Running and Movement. One of my clients wrote to me, “Yesterday I went to the market and saw friends I hadn’t seen for a year – I was really uplifted, maybe now we can begin to be more ALIVE!”
It’s amazing to notice a sense of celebration and uplifting energy. I also heard from a friend who works in a clothes and shoe shop, “It’s extremely hectic as everyone is going shopping again for the first time.”
An NVC participant who works as a barber said, “I feel overwhelmed. I need to take care of how many bookings I can take on.” A gardener friend admitted, “I feel scared coming out of lockdown. It was a quiet time, which I enjoyed. Everything was slowed down. At the same time, there is also some excitement to go again to new places.”
Personally, I feel confused. I enjoy the uplifting energy in the town: more cars than usual on the street, seeing people sitting outside cafés and chatting, queues in front of charity and non-essential shops. No queues any more in front of the supermarket. That’s so interesting! It seems as if the world is turning. I was used to staying at home, only shopping for food, meeting one friend every once in a while for a walk, and working from home.
Now life is changing and we are back in transition times. From my perspective, this is one of the challenges we are facing in these pandemic times. How quickly can we adapt to new situations? How easy or difficult is it to live with not knowing what’s coming – this kind of uncertainty?
I find it helpful that Nonviolent Communication gives me the tools to build resilience, to build roots to ground myself. Do you remember the image of the Tree of Compassionate Connection, which we use in our courses to show the three aspects of Nonviolent Communication? The roots represent the aspect of self-empathy which means inner work, connecting compassionately with myself. It’s so important to have an awareness of what’s going on in my inner world, so I can choose how I want to respond to the outer world.
Connect with our guided reflection to help you deepen the roots of self-empathy. Also see graphic from Southam Surgery: Things to remember when lock down restrictions are eased.
Feature photo by Johan Mouchet on Unsplash