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“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change”

– Wayne Dyer.

Reflecting and Connecting

We have just had over a year of doing hard things. It can be really important to acknowledge this. We can model this as parents, and encourage our kids to think about this. This reflection can help us to feel hope. If we can survive that, then maybe we can survive the next hard thing that comes our way. We can use these reflections to consider all our learnings and how we can use these learnings in the future. Maybe you became a tech whizz, learned how to bake bread or do macramé or teach your dog a new trick, or simply found ways to be quiet and be OK with that!

Reflecting can also help us feel more connected. We did not do these hard things alone. We did them with our friends, our families, our classmates, our pets, our neighbours, our country and our globe. We learned that some of us felt the hard more than others, but that we all need each other to get through it and to make this world better!

Even though connecting has been challenging, let’s admire our efforts to connect and our ability to hang in there even when things are hard or not the way we would like right now! Let’s think of ways we can try to continue to connect and draw strength from our connections with others! For some ideas, check out the Connection Section.

These practices are supported by research and we encourage folks to give them a try! But, we also acknowledge that we all have different backgrounds and experiences. This may make your connection strategies and practices look different in your family.

YouTube Video of the Month

Individually, we are just one colour, but when we are brought together, we form a rainbow.

Image Credit: The Exploratorium (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

Connection Section

  • We have all likely sent many emails or text messages. Instead, try going old school and write and mail a letter or postcard
  • Make eye contact and say hello to folks when you pass them on the street (at a distance of course) as you walk around your neighbourhood
  • Organize an online group game or activity time with friends or relatives or for a birthday. For example, there are various apps (e.g., games apps like HouseParty, escape rooms, murder mysteries, etc.)
  • Sharing memories or making plans with family and friends is also a way to connect
  • Go down Memory Lane on your own. Just remembering or thinking about time spent with friends or family or times or events in the past can help you feel more connected
  • Think, imagine, or plan for when you will be together with others in the future. This can also keep up the connection in your mind and bring you happiness

Helpful Resources

From Greater Good Science Newsletter:

Listen to Glennon Doyle’s We Can Do Hard Things podcast (1 hour)

Community Events

Woolwich Counselling

Langs

Parenting Now

Lunch & Learns for Caregivers with WRDSB Psychology Department

Wednesdays from 12:15 to 12:45 pm

June 2: Creativity – Chicken Soup for the (Pandemic) Soul
June 9: Surviving Your Teenager
June 16: Summertime, Screen Time
June 23: Preparing Your Child/Teen for Returning to School

Random Acts of Kindness

Need hope?

Need Some Help?

For urgent matters call 911 or go to your local emergency room

Here 24/7: 1-844-437-3247

Kids Help Phone: 1-800-668-6868 or text “CONNECT” to 686868

Front Door: 519 749 2932, and press “1”

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For more information about this newsletter contact Mary Murphy at 519-570-0003, ext. 4172.