We are still here.
We enter into week 4 of our the studio being closed.
We are going through the motions of feeling.
We are doing the work.
And we are missing you.
From Teacher Margherita Vicari:
Space tribe,
Checking in. I haven’t left you. I am still here.
To those of you that don’t know me I work in the medical field. I am a Nurse Practitioner at Michigan Medicine caring for Oncology patients in Nuclear Medicine. I spent 10 of the 18 years in the Emergency Department before graduating as an NP. I was trained in an environment that was chaos. You make order out of chaos in the ER. Your job is to be the calm in the storm and support those who are experiencing their worst day. On all our worst days I want to support you. I am taking care of patients in my clinic daily and preparing for deployment but I wanted to connect with all of you. The community of The Space, to let you know I am still here. I am fighting. I am working. I still sending you all love.
Today I wish I could help you all make order out of this chaos. Slowly we can. This is new. This is unknown. None of us were prepared for this. Even the most experienced Medical professionals were not ready. Just because we weren’t ready doesn’t mean we take this lying down. Day by Day I am watching my employer blow me away with their efforts. Are they perfect? No, but what is perfect right now. The same goes for all of us. Our efforts do not need to be perfect. They just need to be there. Effort. Grit. Resilience. Compassion. Scared shitless but showing up anyway.
If we focus on our basic needs we can start there. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs suggests we need to meet our physiological needs 1st. Those include air, water, food, shelter, sleep, clothing, reproduction. Start with those and then take on the next 5 level slowly, Safety, Love and Belonging, Esteem, Self-actualization. See, when we get back to the basics we meet our intrinsic needs and we can prevent the overwhelm and overload. What are some ways to do this in a practical sense. Think about it as a checklist. Move from the bottom up. What can you do for yourself and family in this moment to meet the basic needs? Make nourishing meals if your resources allow, get 8 hours of sleep at night, create a comfortable space. As we navigate these uncharted times we have the opportunity to break things down. See what was working and what was not.
One thing I have realized is that we are indeed running a marathon. During a marathon you have to pace and nourish along the way. If you go to hard too fast you will wear yourself out by mile 10 and you still have 16.22 to go. So rather than wake every day waiting for the finish line maybe we can settle in to this pace for a bit. Let yourself take breaks but keep a steady pace. Step to the side and let the emotions come up. Cry the tears out. Scream the fears out. Then get back on the course and keep going.
We love you. We are here for you. While I keep caring for patients, promise me you will keep caring for you.
Until we meet again Space tribe. I love you
- Marg
We are all still here.
We unite.
We take care.
We will rise again.
turn up the music
get out of bed, get dressed, and turn on this playlist our team created for you.
Things to do to get out of the head and into the body :
Turn on our playlist, and MOVE.
Light palo, close eyes, take a deep breath, begin again.
Get OUTSIDE! Take yourself for a walk.
Read what our team is reading : Untamed by Glennon Doyle
Take a bath, detox from the media (aka no phone allowed.)
Take a nap, because you can.
Learn a new recipe, try something new.
Write a loved one a letter telling them what you love about them.
“Keep going.
That’s all you have to do, ever.
You really don’t have to be amazing, or fierce or beautiful
or successful or good.
Just keep going, please.
Slowly is fine.
Crawling is fine.
No feeling is final.
Except hope. ”
We love you so much.
