This past month has been a challenging time for all of us. Our routines and rituals have been force to transition based upon the concerns surrounding social distancing and an unforgivable pandemic. While I am sure, one day we will look back upon this time with humbling respect for all the personal traumas so many have endured, a great many of us are playing a balancing act between home and work life at an unprecedented level.
When I was younger my adopted family would visit a cabin in the Sierra Nevada’s. For two weeks we would reside in close quarters and find ways to insulate ourselves by getting involved with individual projects. They might include a hike, a short walk collecting any of a random number of miscellaneous items on the forest floor, carving some branch into an interesting item, reading or even some card games to keep our minds busy. Cabin fever is certainly a real concern when isolation can feel more like a sentence we are serving, rather than a get-away for a quiet vacation.
Keeping busy and constructive with our time can really be an important way to remain in good spirits with ourselves and others around us. While the first few weeks of March seem to have been devoted to thoughts of survival, a new month has many thinking about themselves and reexamining their priorities in life. We have seen a lull, but now a surge of new client cases come in recently. People want to really know more about where their roots began and how they might answer some or all of the questions that come along with that goal.
As an adoptee I can understand the need to know about one’s roots. When you start the people around you can sometimes even feel more distant, as we may not have shared these questions and concerns with them before. It is important in these times not only to have personal time to reflect, but also genuine time with those who share our space to understand and embrace us for who we are. Before you venture far into a possible search for your birth family, take the time to keep a friend or loved one up to speed with your journey forward.
We have found that these kinds of searches, can be especially turbulent when conducted in isolation of those we care about around us. Find ways to engage in a community online to voice your concerns, ask questions and understand you are really not alone in these endeavors. When you take care of yourself, you can have the energy and patience to take care of others. Be as kind to yourself as you would with others and we hope to help stitch together a pattern of truth that you can learn to embrace moving forward into the future.