It is nine months since the UK was put into the first lockdown to halt the spread of COVID-19. While this extraordinary disruption to the way we live our lives understandably unleashed tremendous anxiety, the hope at the time was that the measures would be successful and so short-lived. Fast forward to December. This early optimism is now elusive, nervous systems knackered, and most of us weary and uneasy about what lies ahead.
The range of emotional responses we’re experiencing in 2020 is wide and fluctuating. Often our daily challenges and questions are trailheads, openings to much larger and longer explorations of key existential themes. Isolation and loneliness. Anxiety and fear. Grief and loss. Meaning and meaninglessness. Crisis and transformation. The list goes on. There is a palpable desire to dig deeper. How do we want to be with each other during this crisis and beyond? Who will I be?
All of which leads us at EL to believe there is an appetite to come together, albeit virtually, to talk with openness and depth about some of the emotional challenges of working and living through this next phase of Covid-19. In early 2021, we are launching a number of Online Reflective Groups, a series of bi-monthly thematic discussions allowing time for sharing personal experiences and views facilitated by a psychotherapist. These groups will become a warm and welcoming place; a lively space where we acknowledge individual and collective experiences with a sense of camaraderie.
A sampling of themes includes:
Isolation
Meaning/Meaninglessness
Presence vs Productivity
Relationship Challenges
Grief/Loss
Anxiety & Fear
Death/Mortality
Compassion Over Contempt
Feeling Stuck
Crisis & Transformation
Redefining Work
Creativity & Contribution
All sessions will be 90 minutes conducted via Zoom. Groups will be limited to 10 participants. For more information or to register interest, contact info@examinedlife.co.uk.
