I can see the light!

Hi, hope you are all safe and well and staying sane during this third and hopefully final lockdown. For us as a family this one has been the most difficult, as I’m sure it will have been for a lot of people. The snow and dark nights combined with lockdown and the usual January blues have combined to make the beginning of this year the longest ever. But we are starting to see signs that life may be returning to normal, we’ve had some sunshine, the sun is setting later, washing lines are being used again and soon we will see flowers starting to bloom and temperatures increase.

Combined with the latest news that we have a plan for coming out of lockdown and children will be returning to school on 8th March it seems like a time to start feeling more optimistic. While I am relieved that the home-learning nightmare will be ending soon and that my youngest children will be able to return to school and see their friends, I’m painfully aware that my oldest daughter who is in her first year studying for a law degree has not even set foot in her university yet, she hasn’t met any of her cohort, she missed out on freshers week, making lifelong friends and is unable to enjoy the social side of university. We can only hope that life is returned fully to ‘normal’ by September/ October so that the next year of students don’t also miss out.

As the roadmap has been revealed, and the vaccination program progresses it seems like we can start to make tentative plans for meeting up with friends and family. It might be an idea to think about the things that we are unable to do now, that in the past we have taken for granted, such as having a coffee with a neighbour, hugging family, going to the theatre, cinema or gym, going to the park and meeting friends, browsing clothes/ shoe shops, going out for a meal or a few drinks because soon enough we will be doing these things without a second thought.

Enjoy these moments, the first time you hug your nan, the first time you take the kids to the park and they spot a friend and run off to play together, the coffee in Costa with the friend that you don’t see as often as you would like. These little moments are the NOW that we live in and shouldn’t be taken for granted.

While I’m sure we are all looking forward to street parties and delayed get-togethers which will likely be filled with emotion, its important to remember that live goes on in between these big celebrations. If this year has taught me anything its that we should all be more mindful and take joy in the little moments as much as in the big celebrations.

That’s not to say I’m not planning the mother of all parties and have already started pencilling in some dates for family get togethers and an old fashioned street party, but I am also enjoying the Sunday afternoons we are spending time playing monopoly and trivial pursuits as a family.

Its these little things that will get us to the end of the tunnel, the light of which is starting to peak through!

Take care and stay safe.

Vicky

Happy New Year, Happy New Lockdown.

Hi and welcome to my first post of 2021. I’ve been thinking a lot about new years resolutions and have decided they are not for me this year. January is a shitty enough month without worrying about reinventing myself, its cold, wet, dark and miserable. So I’m saying NO to ‘New Year, New Me’, ‘Dry January’, ‘Veganuary’ or any other incentive that will put pressure on me to do without. So I will be finishing the Christmas Cake and chocolates because its wet or snowing outside, I will be enjoying a baileys coffee to warm me up when I get home in the dark and cold. I might even enjoy a glass of White Zinfandel on a Friday night.

For me, January is usually a time for planning, working out aims and goals for the year, thinking about which workshops, training, events and fundraising activities we can fit in and when. But this year is a bit different, I’m finding it difficult to plan fully the same way as usual. Because I find cancelling plans very deflating I am not making any concrete plans for this year at all. Instead I am going to prepare for when we can meet again and thinking of how I can get through this lockdown. So I’m going to finish writing my course ‘Dealing with Depression’, which I started and has been on my to-do-list ever since lockdown number 1. Making lists of activities that we can do in the invisible illnesses support group. Deciding on places that we can visit with the community friends. I’m compiling a birthdays book so that I can send cards for peoples birthdays, as I believe they are important little ways of showing that you care.

Finally, I’ve decided to do little random acts of kindness whenever I am able to as I have found that making someone else smile makes me feel good.

Take care and stay safe.

Vicky

Welcome

Hi and welcome to my new blog.

Thank you for visiting Community Spirit’s website. I thought I should give you a bit of an insight into who is behind the organisation. I’m Vicky, I’m not only a director of Community Spirit but also a wife and mother of 3, so things do get a bit hectic every now and then! I’m slightly nervous about writing this blog and I’m not entirely sure what I hope to accomplish, other than to let people see that I am a genuine person and have highs and lows and hopefully that will resonate with others. If this makes one person realise that whatever they are going through, someone somewhere is going through the same thing and they reach out to talk, whether that’s to me or someone else I believe it’s worth pushing myself to do this and put myself out there.

Lockdown No. 2

Weathering the storm

As we enter our second national lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic, more and more people are struggling with their mental health, worrying about work, family and Christmas, fear of missing out on celebrations, anxiety about buying presents for children. You are not alone, everyone is finding a way to cope with this uncertain situation and dealing with it in their own way. We hear people saying ‘We’re all in the same boat’ no we aren’t -we might all be travelling through the same storm, but some of us are in luxury yachts, some are on rafts, some of us have life- jackets and a crew, others have a broken oar and a wet map! So please be compassionate, think about your actions and don’t assume you know what someone else is going through. Even if you think your boats are the same- you might not be able to see the leak in theirs!

At Community Spirit we want to help you get through this and come out smiling. So here are 5 ideas to help you sail through it (sorry I just couldn’t resist that last pun)

  • Write it down- whatever you are worrying about, feeling or thinking write it down. The process of writing things down helps to focus the mind, can clarify how you feel and help you to process and come up with solutions.
  • Focus on your senses- if you feel overwhelmed or anxious, take a deep breath and concentrate on what you can see, touch, hear, smell and taste. This is a grounding technique and will help to bring you back to the present moment and what you are currently experiencing instead of your mind racing ahead.
  • Go for a walk- physical activity is really beneficial in releasing seratonin, decreasing muscle tension and regular exercise can increase resilience.
  • Talk to someone – Just because you cant physically be near others you can still phone, email, video-call or even write. Regularly connecting with others to share ideas and coping strategies can give you a sense of purpose, which in turn boosts your happiness. Even speaking to neighbours over the fence can be beneficial to you both.
  • Turn off the news – or at least reduce how much time you spend watching it, obviously you do need to know whats happening but as the majority of the news is negative and sensationalised this can increase your fears and make you feel worse.