I didn’t know when would be the right time to share this post.

I started to write it on the day it became clear that we would have to place our entire team of library assistants on furlough.

Sitting with that news was a little bit heartbreaking.

Taking away a person’s regular routine is quite significant.

Work takes up a large amount of many people’s daily lives and when it goes, it can leave a void that is difficult to fill.

We are living through an extraordinary time, and what I want to talk about today is how we should not underestimate the levels of trauma this is creating in us.

Some of us are losing our loved ones, colleagues and friends, in death.

Some of us are not able to get married, or mourn our loved ones at funerals.

Some of us are losing our jobs temporarily or permanently.

Some of us, like me on that day a few weeks ago,  are having to be the custodians of bad news all whilst worrying about our own circumstances.

This is hard.

This is traumatic.

This will have psychological implications for us all.

 Now as we are told here in England that we can start to move around more, I urge you to still remain mindful.

Mindful of how you are feeling as you move through the next few days, weeks and months.

Mindful of what you feel comfortable doing and not doing.

Mindful of how much we have slowed down, and how important it is to not suddenly rush forward.

Mindful of the fear that may have accumulated in your body without you fully realising it. 

This is not the time to demand too much of yourself.

This is a time to be gentle with yourself and others as we re-emerge.

This event has changed us all, and will continue to do so.

We will live for quite some time with the possibility of a second wave and further, perhaps even harsher restrictions. 

We will live with the continued emphasis on social distance and face coverings.

This level of uncertainty can erode us if we don’t acknowledge it’s existence.

My posts over the next little while will be a lot more about re-emergence.

I hope they will help us all to take our first steps into this new world.

Much love Txx