The last few weeks and the coming few months most of us have shared and/or looked at more statistics than ever (there are probably some numbers for that as well, but to be honest I am basing this statement on my gut-feeling).
Those statistics we are sharing about the virus spreading, the different behaviours influencing the projections of the curve and death rates by age groups are big, sometimes easy to misinterpret, often global and scary.
They are also like everything, something we will in some sense get used to.
And they are statistics and numbers to begin with. And quite often statistics make it feel like looking on from the outside while you are actually directly in the middle of it. Even if you know that you or your loved ones are exactly as likely as this statistic says in numbers to become part of it, even if you understand it intellectually, the human brain is very bad at “feeling statistics”.
Just last week I had a first-hand experience of becoming part of a different Covid19 unrelated statistic I had known of but not really felt fully until I became an affected part of, and maybe I will write about that at some point when I feel up to it. It is very different to know and to maybe even feel for than to experience and feel by yourself.
In the next few weeks and months, many of us and our loved ones will become part of the statistics we are now reading and sharing. And I think even if we are already caring and aware of the problem now, those experiences will change how we feel. And even so many people all across the world will go through the same experience each of us will also do so individually. Feeling afraid, sad or confused is not devalued or less impactful because many people go through the same experience.
Therefore I want to make this thread space where we share moments where fear or confusion manifest or surreal strangeness becomes temporarily unbearable and help each other through it with listening and validation of each individual case of this strange global experience.
At the same time, this is not supposed to be alarmist. Sharing and giving space to temporary emotional reactions in awareness that many go through similar but also the validity of these reactions is not mass panic, but hopefully a helpful coping and processing mechanism.
When I feel bad I want both, to know that I am not alone and that many go through similar experiences, but also that it is ok for me to feel bad for a while and to work through my emotions in the time and intensity I need.
Please share.
-
What have been moments that made you feel the meaning of the numbers?
-
How are you currently feeling?
-
When you talk about this situation, what are you talking about? What topics do come up again and again and what do you feel is under-discussed?
-
What has helped you when you or friends or family members of yours when they felt afraid, sad or confused for a moment?