IBlog II: Finding Our Way Forward to a Post-Pandemic World This week, I would like to begin by sharing a brief personal story about behavior befitting a pandemic. Just following New Year’s, a couple of our “bubble friends” came for dinner. Despite a snow storm in full force, they arrived safely and we spent a lovely evening together. It wasn’t until we were saying our good-byes that we realized their drive home might not be very pleasant, and possibly even a bit challenging. Normally I would have hugged our long-time friends as they were leaving; however as “hugging” was not permitted, I raised my elbow for an “elbow bump” farewell and blurted out “Thanks from the bottom of my elbow for coming out on this stormy night.” Now, a few more thoughts from the bottom of my elbow. As the winter of our shared discontent begins to recede, our hopes and thoughts are increasingly turning to the future and newly emerging realities. Lots of questions and concerns are in the air, coupled with the sense that addressing them will require new strategies and priorities. New beginnings. Today I would like to begin the dialogue by briefly reviewing some of these questions and concerns, especially as they relate to the healthy living agenda in a post pandemic world. Let’s start with a couple of key questions: • Do you recognize this period we’ve just been through as an important “time out”, a time both for reflection on what brought us to this point in our history and for re-imaging what our future can look like? • Assuming the answer is yes, what are some of the insights we’ve learned about ourselves, both personally and collectively, that can assist in framing a new narrative about values and priorities going forward? I’ll leave it to future blogs to begin the deep dive into formulating a response, but here are a few personal observations (from an Atlantic Canadian perspective) to kick off the discussion: • Our current model for caring for the elderly has been seriously tested and found wanting. • Similarly, our current system for supporting people with serious mental health issues is crying out for a fundamental overhaul. • And special attention needs to be given to our young people, many of whom have been traumatized by the extended and stressful period of living under the threat of Covid-19. At this point, I should mention the recently published book, "Neglected No More" by André Picard which speaks to the crisis in eldercare as revealed by the coronavirus pandemic: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/669793/neglected-no-more-by-andre-picard/9780735282247?ref=PRH21BE93181C&utm_source=RH_Canada&utm_medium=Advertising&utm_content=&utm_term=&utm_campaign=Neglected_No_More_by_Andre_Picard_-_Google_Search&gclid=Cj0KCQiA-aGCBhCwARIsAHDl5x_XQbHlhZaKRwj7ixeuezi3jBz9Xu0eiFqWyRR3ofjMTrUO_jhq2G8aAmmnEALw_wcB As well, living through these stressful, anxious times has provided us with plenty of challenges when it comes to our personal health and well-being. But it has also demonstrated the amazing capacity for self-awareness, resilience and inner growth that is available for each and everyone of us. And this is the theme I would like to turn to next. Maggie A Healing Gift, Cognitive Energy Healing by Maggie McLaughlin is available online through Indigo/Chapters, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Balboa Press www.cognitiveenergyhealing.ca
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Blog I: Finding Our Way Forward to a Post-Pandemic World
As the anthropologist Victor Turner put it, we are living in a liminal period, a time of ambiguity and disorientation, a time where the challenges are immense and yet the opportunities are unlimited. It is well over a year since the COVID-19 virus started its devastating journey across the globe, changing our world forever. Now, with the days getting longer, signs of spring in the air, and with increasingly optimistic news about the latest vaccine rollouts, it's time to start thinking about the future. Let us draw strength and courage from what we have all been through and now dedicate our creative energies to imagining and realizing a new world, a better world! Not being on the front lines, I remain comfortably at home cocooning in the safety of my home office. There has been lots of time these winter days to think and wonder about how and when we will surface from this crisis and return to some degree of normalcy. The other day I came across a message that said something to the effect that one day you will tell your story of living through this pandemic and how you managed to overcome it, and this story will become part of someone else’s survival guide in the future. This got me to thinking about the importance of stories in our lives, how they influence the way we are in the world, and how they guide us and provide a unifying lifeline to future generations. Sometimes life just flows forward in a relatively calm and normal fashion, but this is not the material our stories are usually made of. Rather our stories most often arise out of traumatic challenges that require us to make urgent and critical decisions to find the way forward. Stories are the glue that connects us to each other throughout time, moving from the past toward future. How will our stories from this time of global pandemic contribute to strengthening our bonds to each other, and to forging a strong collective commitment to making the world a better place? It is at this very time that we must grow our awareness and realize that we have a once in a generation opportunity to review and contest certain of those less than beneficial established ways of our past. Strategic revisioning and change can serve to create a better future both for us and the planet. Undeniably, there are some weeds that need pulling, the question is where to start? As health and wellbeing are at the forefront of our concerns at present, it is from this perspective that I would like to begin a conversation to re-imagine how certain of our health care concerns might be better addressed going forward. I come to this subject from a so-called “alternative health” perspective, arising from my personal health history and my experience in the practice of energy healing. I remain deeply passionate about and absolutely convinced that this sector can and will make a huge contribution to the creation of a new health care paradigm. From this standpoint, I also recognize that alternative health as we currently describe it is but part of a much bigger and immensely complex field of research, study and practice, based upon a wide variety of health-related customs, practices and perspectives. The integrative medicine model of combining conventional and complementary approaches is increasingly gaining recognition as a beneficial approach to healing. The challenges and opportunities for creating more integrated, holistic approaches to health care in all its many manifestations, will also feature here and in future blog entries. Maggie A Healing Gift, Cognitive Energy Healing by Maggie McLaughlin is available online through Indigo/Chapters, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Balboa Press Contact: www.cognitiveenergyhealing.ca Dear reader: Wellness and Wonder Beneath Boundless Skies is a title I hope will inspire and provide a way to address a broad scope of topics related to health and well-being. While we are currently living in a profoundly challenging time due to the pandemic, there is a growing awareness that the time is ripe for carefully planned and beneficial change as we prepare to move forward into a post pandemic world. Fortunately, while living with the pervasive health threat of Covid-19, the great majority of us in the Atlantic region are safely finding our way with an eye to when we can all have access to the vaccine, and this reality is not far off. In the interim, this essential pause between what normal was in the pre-pandemic world and what it will be in the future affords us the opportunity to consider those changes that would best serve our needs and those of our planet. Dealing with the urgent reality of the pandemic has expedited change in a number of significant areas from health care to how we get our groceries, and honestly a number of these changes have proven to be beneficial and should be retained. Now is the time to start planning for the future, so in my first couple of blogs I would like to begin a dialogue toward awakening our awareness of the need to start envisioning the world we want to live in going forward. The time is ripe for change, and it is happening quickly. So, who am I? Really just an ordinary person devoted to family and friends, I am a retired teacher, an artist, a writer, and an alternative health practitioner. And for this page, I see myself along with all of you bearing an important and pressing responsibility to prepare ourselves for the move back into the mainstream of living. Once we find out of this existential crisis, what do we want our world to be like for future generations? What is it we can do now to help create the world we want? As custodians of both ourselves and this planet we carry an onerous responsibility. We must find a healing way ahead as we step forward into a post-pandemic world. This will require awareness, foresight and a concerted effort to conscientiously envision and plan for the way ahead. If there is one positive outcome of this pandemic, let it be as a catalyst for urgently needed beneficial change: “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.” –– Hericlitus So, with this background, let the journey begin! To be posted next week: Blog I, Finding Our Way Forward to a Post-Pandemic World And please, if you have any questions, contributions or perhaps just some random observations, I would love to hear from you. Maggie A Healing Gift, Cognitive Energy Healing by Maggie McLaughlin is available online through Indigo/Chapters, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Balboa Press. Online consultations can be arranged through my website:
http://www.cognitiveenergyhealing.ca |
AuthorMaggie McLaughlin is the author of A Healing Gift, Cognitive Energy Healing, CEH founder, practitioner and instructor. This blog is dedicated to exploring well-being within the context of current health and wellness concerns, including insights gained from readings and research on a broad range of health-related matters. Where relevant, insights from a CEH perspective will be shared. |