It’s here. This novel coronavirus. It’s swept areas of the globe all over, some in plateau and others in decline. Some just beginning to ramp up.

As the conditions fluctuate, so do the responses. The reactions. Sharp and harsh. Soft and apathetic. Neutral and dismissive. It’s wide-ranging reflection to witness. Perhaps not all that different based on your own experience with oppression. In this way, I am reminded of one of Brené Brown’s most poignant quotes: “What we don’t need in the midst of struggle is shame for being human.”

Have you entered into the judgment zone? I’ve tipped my toes in there, too. It’s hard not to as I walk around an isolated, quarantining neighborhood and observe various behaviors of families within just a few blocks of where I live. Lest COVID-19 be any less deprecating, social media and 24-hour news outlets are already present in an incessant way.

And still I can recognize that we’ll each be experiencing this slow-down in a unique way. Personally within familial & cultural containers. Not to mention academic, occupational, and medical ones, too. How we cope with the losses and grievances of being secluded from what “was normal” is truly abnormal. Unprecedented. There cannot be expectations of how to handle much when it’s never been handled in most ways before.

In steps to the ring, Compassion. Holding compassion earnestly for ourselves as a measure of caring. For self, for others. Noticing first-hand what our thoughts might be. Our responses might be. Treat it perhaps like the ordinances of wearing a mask on your faces in public, or staying home: it’s not just for the safety of yourselves, it is necessity for the safety of others. Optioning in for compassion is like creating safety in emotional tethers we have with one another.

I find that compassion, much like resilience, is not automatically inherited at birth. It is something we must encounter in order to cultivate ongoing. Something that can absolutely be fostered and nurtured when seemingly lost or absent. I believe that we are born out and full of love, though compassion is arguably defined by our relating (suffering) with others. Thus we need that primal connection to best implement and practice compassion.

I’ve attached a brief meditation video around Loving Kindness here, of my own comprehension and spirit. Feel free to look up others’ insights for reference including Jack Kornfield, Tara Brach, Eckhart Tolle, Jon Kabat-Zinn . . . the list goes on.

However you find yourselves during this unique season of worldly shifts, be kind. Starting within, branching and extending outward when you can, as much as you can. Here if you need some support with it. Peace.