If you’re newly unemployed or underemployed, you may be facing a whole host of fears about your financial security. If you’re employed and have transitioned to working from home, the fabric of your daily life has been upended and the routines you rely on are hard to come by. For some of you that doesn’t come with a protective sense of “going home” but of being uprooted and forced to go back into a difficult situation that school gave you a break from. You may have abruptly been told to move out of your dorm. If you’re a college or university student, you’re facing a radical departure from your usual structure of classes and internships. It’s a form of what I like to call backhanded reassurance (really, validation): If you’re still with me, here’s what I want to say to you.
PANTHEA MEANING FREE
In the age of the coronavirus crisis, attempts at reassurance might take the form of “Here’s a silver lining…”, “Enjoy this free time while you can!”, or “Everything’s going to be okay.” Statements like these can be so helpful when you genuinely feel them to be true for you, but they can also feel minimizing and dismissive coming from other people, and they may leave you feeling painfully alone with big feelings. Sometimes reassurance can send an unintentional message: “Your feelings are too big/scary/heavy for me to handle right now.” You might be nodding your head in agreement if you’ve ever experienced a loss and had someone say to you, “At least they didn’t suffer.” or “They’re in a better place now.” Ouch! Well, reassurance can have unintended consequences. Of course we all need reassurance sometimes, even when we’re not facing a pandemic! Reassurance often comes from a place of care, so what’s the big deal? This may sound weird but I’m not big on reassurance. You may be feeling scared, worried, and drained, while also feeling pressure from productivity pushers-or maybe from your own internal productivity pusher. This post is for those of you who are having a very different experience. If you’re enjoying virtual tours of national parks on your TV, browsing world renowned museums from your couch, taking a free Ivy League college course on your laptop, or dancing along with a DJ dist-Dance party, that’s awesome! You do you! And, this post doesn’t apply to you.
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