Has COVID has changed your plans? Altered your understanding of connection? If you’ve been a student during COVID, you may feel a lot has been stripped from you. You might feel that this time away from peers and staring into a screen may have altered your sense of identity or communication. Life transitions such as preparing for or exiting college, finishing a school year and exams, finding a new job, finding interests or a “purpose,” navigating relationships, or other major life changes often create stress and you may lose yourself or feel overwhelmed. As if these things weren’t hard enough as emerging adults! COVID has certainly changed the way we learn and interact.
Many people feel afraid or anxious that this will create a long-lasting impact on their ability to communicate, or connect to others.
The good news is, it is possible to reconnect! You can fill that confused or overwhelmed space with positive coping skills. It is possible to find a deeper sense of meaning and purpose at one of the most formative and important stages of your development.
Tips for Re-Connecting & Managing Change
Here are some helpful tips for coping with the changes, and building deeper connections…
Gain Perspective and Cultivate Gratitude:
Understanding where you are from, what impacts you, and what privileges you have can put your life into perspective and helps you realize how sweet life can really be. They say if everyone threw their problems into a jar, you’d be the first to take yours back. The world’s lives and problems are all relative, but it is important to recognize that you are alive, healthy, have food, clean water and access to opportunities many don’t.
Do a Google search or read a good non-fiction book about history, and you might get new insights into your family lineage and unique identity.
Learn to Embrace Quiet:
Meditation and Mindfulness are widely used practices. Meditation apps can be great for some people. But it looks different for everyone, so don’t get overwhelmed if you can’t sit with your eyes closed for more than 30 seconds. What has been a real gift of COVID is allowing us to experience for a moment what it is to “shut down,” go inside, and slow down everything we do. Not only was it necessary in order to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe, but it can be an ongoing practice to help you cope and reset when you feel anxious or overwhelmed. Try sitting outside and listen to yourself breathing. Listen to the wind between the tree leaves. Watch the clouds go by. Count the boats in the harbor. What did you learn from quarantine? How can you bring quietness into your daily life? What do you want to do to make sure you keep in touch with people and feel less isolated?
Get Outside:
It can be hard to reconnect to intuition, find your voice, build strength in self and community and learn how to live your best life no matter what. You can develop a deeper sense of identity and community by connecting to nature. It is important right now to be thankful for the fresh air, remember what it feels like to un-mask and unwind. After months of work in school, jobs, exams and pressures of life, give yourself the opportunity to see, smell and listen to the natural surroundings we live in. It has been proven that the microbes in soil and hugging trees actually make you happier! Try inhaling and exhaling with the beat of the bay water – it can be really relaxing.
Journal Writing & Using Creative Expression Each Day:
This is easy to do, especially if you already have a journal. Make it as simple or complex as you like. Ask yourself a new question every other day, or find a new pen or pencil to scribble something on the page. What does it make you think of? What does it reveal about your emotional state? Are the pencil lines hard and tense, or loose and light? Think about how this simple exercise can mean different things for you at a certain time. Create a collage using items you find outside like leaves and flowers you can press in a large book. Try reading a few pages of a novel or poem while you wait for the glue to dry.
Connect With Others:
Sharing stories is the way our ancestors used to communicate. Talking to others and especially those who are part of a community is a way to experience what it is like to not feel isolated and alone. It is a way to break free from the fears and anxieties that have been heightened by COVID and social media. Join creative or therapy groups, join clubs or workshops and go on nature walks, start a conversation with someone- or even the chipmunk on the trail. See a therapist to learn more about how to cope with your unique issues and concerns. Meet other individuals who are facing similar challenges and want to connect and grow together. There are so many opportunities now to connect globally through Zoom and other formats. Search for things you’re interested in, and let the internet and video chat be your tool, not your enemy.
Try giving yourself the gift of the opportunity to develop a deeper connection to yourself, others, and the great outdoors. Escape the pressures of social media and being stuck at home by being outside. Give yourself the best chance at re-connection after COVID, and see how some of these tips can help you!
If you feel unable to cope or are in danger of self-harm, please call New York Project Hope at (844) 863-9314, or the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at (800) 273-8255.