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8 Creative Ways to Cope and Thrive Through Coronavirus and Beyond, by Jack Adam Weberr

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

It took me about two weeks into our current pandemic, after I emerged from shock, to realize how precisely applicable the content of my new book, Climate Cure: Heal Yourself to Heal the Planet, is for navigating our current pandemic. This is because the pandemic shares common root causes with climate crisis via what I call our "Triangle of Resilience Relationships." These three relationships consist of 1) our relationship with ourselves (inner healing), 2) our relationship with the natural world (nature connection), and 3) our relationship with one another (building heartfelt community).

In Climate Cure I explore how a deterioration of these essential relationships has caused and perpetuated climate crisis. The good news is that revitalizing these three relationships is a radical means to transform both our inner worlds as well as to promote the more beautiful planet we want to create.

Amid the suffering and devastation the pandemic, it is also causing many of us to slow down, break our habitual and mesmerizing routines, spend more time with ourselves and our families, and question our purpose and future in new ways—the exact conditions we need for genuine transformation and initiation.

The eight creative ways to cope that I share below are primarily geared to those of us with the privilege to choose a response to the pandemic—which we all possess to some degree—more than it is for those whose only choice is to respond to the call of essential medical duty, work overtime, or otherwise fight for survival minute to minute. By focusing on radically sustainable and creative ways to cope and thrive, we can revolutionize our own lives and use our privilege to create more justice.

While there are many recommendations for which natural remedies to take—and I have blended two potent herbal extract formulas for this purpose—I wanted to share some less common ways to cope and thrive through this time of simultaneous tragedy and opportunity. All are integral to Climate Cure and, as you may notice, each fortifies one or more of our Triangle of Resilience Relationships.

1. Engage Inner Work
   Inner work pertains to Triangle of Resilience Relationship #1 and is at the heart of Climate Cure . It hinges on the inner-outer, Yin-Yang dynamic formalized by the great Carl Jung and social justice hero Mahatma Ghandi: what we create in the world is a mirror image of what's inside us. Reckoning with grief and shadow work, as well as how to manage anxiety and work with fear, are at the heart of this inner work.Many of us have been thrown into the proverbial yogi's meditation cave or onto the therapist's couch. We are forced to be face ourselves, without many of the distractions that prevent us from—or which we use to prevent—our deeper emotions and chronic bad habits. I've been personally retreating into a more internal space, revisiting old hurts and unresolved issues that arise just by slowing down and being more quiet and sensitive to my inner life.

   This is a time for finding value and meaning in our own company as we learn new ways to regulate our minds and emotions. Struggles with sadness and depression, frustration and anger, fear and anxiety, helplessness and despair, are common struggles I hear these days. All are comprehensively explored in Climate Cure and will be reviewed more in depth in a sequel article, as it is beyond the scope of this one to address them.

   Changing our perspective from "deprivation to development," as my friend Amy Belanger put it, can help us harvest the best from this opportunity, as we radically accept our predicament. Taking tough times on as a personal challenge to adapt and thrive rather than merely as a frustration or inconvenience can make all the difference in coping through rather than sinking from the stress of the pandemic and the overarching issue of climate change.

2. Wave and Adopt
   Wave: When in town, I wave to and greet as many people as I can. Most of us feel isolated and more afraid, so waving to, smiling, and greeting people—even as they drive by—uplifts me and seems to be a welcome relief for those who receive my salutations. Their return greeting helps me feel more connected and is a palpable reminder that we truly are all in this together.Adopt: Pick someone or something that is underprivileged and "adopt" them. I have chosen to give free health support, products, and money to a couple others who are especially struggling, as well as make myself available for numerous others who are emotionally challenged. Another friend in my community, Brian Berman, has dedicated himself to printing headbands for medical workers who desperately need them.

   Both "Wave and Adopt" especially help boost Triangle of Resilience Relationship #3, our connection with one another, during this time when we are kept apart from our larger community.

3. Reckon with Mortality
   While on a recent hike to the river bottom with my brother, I was suddenly confronted with my mortality. As we sat together in silence on our respective, socially distanced boulders, the water coursed around the river rocks. In that moment, beneath the level of thought, I had a deep visceral reckoning that I—and my whole family—would one day become that water, that rock, that earth. This was instantly juxtaposed at a feeling level with images of us all endlessly running around tackling the endless list of chores and obligations we have each day.This experience occurred within a period of seconds, while the poignant and comforting sense of temporality lasted all evening into the next day. It brought on a wholesome grief that was not depressing or morbid. Rather, it was refreshing and helped calm my anxiety (as grief does) and settle me into an immediate aliveness and appreciation of the moment. It settled me into the belly of my experience of this pandemic.

   Others have also shared with me that the theme of death is arising for them, and spontaneous reckonings like the one I describe, seem more common, as medicine for our times. Such encounters help us meet and process our losses, surrender neurotic control, and soften our hearts.

4. Stoke the Absurd
   There is plenty to be distraught about these days. At the same time, we can appreciate how bizarre and ridiculous this whole thing is—the intense and even bizarre measures effected in the face of the pandemic and the insanity of our species generally! None of this is to minimize the suffering and a compassionate response, or the seriousness of the issue. Rather, it is a way to lighten our stress around it, give our brains a break, and continue to stay apprised and functional.Absurdity includes being silly. So find any opportunity to laugh! I have made up several nicknames for the virus, for example, which I bandy about with friends, who also appreciate such silliness. I even invent and bust our nonsensical songs about the virus.

   My best friend and I have recently taken up the practice of creating elaborate treasure hunts (in unpopulated areas). We leave notes and clues in strange places and send each other on wild goose chases that end in a surprise treat. Some hunts take as long as an hour to complete! And we make up absurd stories along the way, such as the likelihood that badgers might get to the treasure before the other finds it. Thus, we recite the mantra: "beat the badger."

   Embrace your own version of absurdity and silliness, and laugh often!

5. Accept That You Might Get the Virus
   One morning early last week, while still in bed, I had a spontaneous breakthrough. I realized and deeply accepted that I might get the virus and contract Covid-19. This wasn't an intellectual process and conclusion, but a spontaneous acceptance, like my river bottom experience with death.This might seem like an unwise thing to accept, but it deeply helped me, paradoxically. I didn't realize just how much fear I was holding until that morning (note: I don't consider fear all bad; it is in fact adaptive in the right amount, as I discuss in depth in Climate Cure). But fear can build up unnecessarily when we are unawares. My psyche seemed to recognize that I was carrying an excess and it helped me let go by delivering the full-bodied reckoning that I might get the virus. As a result, and paradoxically, I felt relieved.

   This acceptance doesn't change my actions and the precautions I take to avoid the virus; I'm just not carrying around as much unnecessary fear as I used to. Recently, I heard of a Covid patient who was relieved that what she most feared finally came true, and that it was not nearly as scary as what she had anticipated. Her fortunate experience, of course, is not everyone's.

   Radically accepting this possibility helped my nervous system downshift two gears, a form of radical inner acceptance. I recommend not trying to accept this reality, just be open to its possibility for if it happens to visit you.

6. Welcome Hardship
   There seems a pervasive need to turn everything into a positive, to make the best of the pandemic, and to do anything to make it better. While it's often helpful to make the best of situations, it can also be exhausting and get in the way of deeper change. I know several people who have burned themselves out trying to do just this. Sometimes we frantically try to be positive as a result of being anxious and not being able to modulate this anxiety. Taking deep breaths often and naming our anxiety and fear when they arise can help us gain a little distance from these powerful emotions to allow us to be with them and not give in to our compulsions to frantically get away from them, which takes a lot of energy!Consider letting part of yourself accept the hardship of these times without trying to change it. Experiment with accepting some of your suffering and just letting it hurt. This said, you don't have to suffer needlessly, so discern which aspects of your suffering to address proactively and which aspects you can't control to just let be. Acceptance can cause less suffering and nurture growth that takes us beyond our current limitations, especially when we don't try to constantly avoid hardship.

   Transformation, after all, usually happens by being with difficulty, letting yourself be changed by it, not by trying to constantly transform it.

7. Cultivate Radical Joy
   Radical joy might seem incompatible with accepting hardship, but we can embrace both, as a tension of opposites. This is holistic, integral thinking as opposed to oppositional, binary thinking.Poet and essayist Wendell Berry wrote, "Be joyful, though you have considered all the facts." In other words, we can also honor and consecrate joy amid challenging circumstances. Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl also tells of generating radical joy in the concentration camps; his classic book Man's Search for Meaning is a potent read for these times and one I reference in Climate Cure.

   Set aside time each day, or throughout the day, to allow yourself to experience joy. Don't grasp at joy, just create the ripe environment for it to find you. Again, laugh every chance you get!

   In addition to the joys of eating, sex, and sleeping, try inviting more enjoyment through your own creativity, the joy of being in nature, bonding with your family (it's a practice!), and the joy of letting your body and mind rest and unwind during this time of pause. Several families I know have shared that they are coming together now more than they have in a decade. Also, finding joy in what is free and still abundantly available is radically resourceful and especially important these days of relative deprivation.

   Maybe now is time to begin the book you've always wanted to write, exercise more, begin a regular meditation practice, learn about wild edible plants in your area, plant a garden, or begin composting. I've been making salads from wild mustard, mallow, and arugula, and harvesting wild oats, whose milky seed pod that emerges in spring is an excellent nervine (nervous system relaxant). Or maybe you want to get more serious about living in community or moving to the country.

   For a more sublime and subtle joy, see if you can tap into the joy that the animals, and maybe even the plants, might be feeling or sensing without so much of our intrusion, noise, and pollution-making. I have rejoiced in the birdsong which seems clearer and more pronounced now due to lower ambient noise.

8. Practice for Climate Crisis
   

   Last—and definitely not least—it's important to keep the bigger picture and our longer trajectory in mind. Here we are in a mini, climate-like collapse, with the opportunity to practice adapting.

   Our disturbed relationship with the natural world, pursuing infinite growth on a finite planet, and feeling entitled to comfort in every way, are some of the same underlying drivers for climate crisis. As I discuss in Climate Cure, many of our current challenges— including the wisdom for how to navigate difficult emotions such as anxiety, fear, and grief—are the same as those we encounter facing climate change. (An excerpt from the book on how to manage anxiety and depression, for example, can be downloaded here.)

   Let's use this time to practice for the long run, for climate crisis proper, the likelihood of more pandemics and more severe limitations ahead, or for any future challenges. Many of us may soon be confronted with having to evacuate wildfires and floods; will we shelter in place to abide social distancing or evacuate and expose ourselves to others as we flee natural disaster?

   Simplifying and decluttering our lives is key to adapting to the Covid-19 pandemic and Climate Crisis. Degrowth, or consuming less of everything, is also beneficial long-term to reduce your carbon footprint, even if doing so is largely a means to come into right alignment with our struggling planet. See what aspects of normal you can let go and do without to reduce stress, save money, and create more freedom.

Reflections:
I invite you to pull out your journal and jot down responses to the following:

1. Which aspects of this essay most spoke to you?
2. Which aspects of the essay spoke to you the least?
3. After reading this essay, In what ways are you inspired to consider changing, commit to change, or to continue (or adjust) what you've been doing?

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2020. All rights reserved.

I dreamed that my husband was dead and that by sheer force of love, I was able to bring him back. As I held him and refused to accept the bottomless grief that was enveloping me, he began to breathe again. However, he was not quite all that he had been. I don't often fear dreams but this one scared me profoundly. Your thoughts?

L.

Susyn:

Dreams of the impending death of a loved one can be frightening. Even though you were able to love your husband back to life, it didn't work out as you wanted or needed it to, so it's understandable that you would be disturbed by this dream.

Usually our dreams don't predict future physical events; instead, they reveal important aspect of our psyches. The way this dream touched you on a profound level suggests that dream was symbolic and not literal.

We all carry deep-seated fears of losing those closest to us, and often these fears take shape in our dreams. If we look at this vision from a metaphysical perspective, it's clear that your relationship to your husband is deeply important to you; you are a vital part of his life and he depends on you to nurture and fulfill him.

I recommend you ask yourself if there are any struggles your husband is currently going through that might have triggered this dream. These struggles may be personal, professional or health-related. If you can't think of any, you might look to your own life to see if you have been struggling in some way. You see, this dream may not be about your husband at all, but rather about something that is as important to you as this relationship is.

Sometimes a dream like this can indicate that some aspect of your life is fading away and something new is developing that will change you, your husband or your relationship in profound ways. Though this change is portrayed in a physical way in the dream, it is really of a spiritual or emotional nature.

Extensive journaling on this dream should reveal more information. I recommend you write down the events of the dream and all the feelings that came to you during and after it. Writing your feelings down on paper like this will help diffuse them and lead you to greater clarity.

I don't get the sense that this is a recurring dream. Dreams tend to return over and over if we fail to pay attention to them; since you are paying attention, you'll be able to process and release the message of this dream in a conscious way, which should prevent it from recurring.

I think this dream has a positive message for you; it suggests that your bond to your husband is so powerful and enduring that no matter what happens, you will be able to keep your love alive.

*****

Oceania:

I think one of you is expanding and changing the dynamic of your relationship. If it's your husband, you may feel like the man you once knew is gone; here your dream represents your desire to pull the old him back.

Imagine that your husband is a little bird sitting on your palm. You can cage him or you can bless his flight with trust that if he's meant to be with you, he will fly away and then joyfully return to the comfort of your hand. Of course, it may be YOU who is stretching and growing into a freer, more independent being; perhaps you fear that your husband will reject the new and improved you.

Shel Silverstein wrote The Missing Piece, which looks like a children's book but holds universal appeal. The story explores our tendency to look to another person to complete us.

The main character is a circular being who looks like a pie with a slice missing. This creature encounters and attempts to connect with many ill-fitting pieces. We can all relate as the creature goes in search of its missing piece. In the end, the creature discovers that the missing piece is not another being but rather its own unrealized potential calling it to expand.

In The Rainbow Connection, Kermit the Frog sings, Have you been half-asleep and have you heard voices? I've heard them calling my name...Is this the sweet sound that calls the young sailors? The voice might be one and the same...I've heard it too many times to ignore it; it's something that I'd like to be... Either you or your husband is heeding that call to be something more!

After reviving him in the dream, you noticed that he was not all he had been. As YOU grow and expand as an individual, your husband may seem diminished. There are natural shifts that take place in a relationship whenever one person changes, and it can feel uncomfortable when familiar patterns dissolve and new ones are not yet established.

Many people fear that personal evolution will lead to the demise of their marriage, but changes can merely mark the end of one chapter and the start of a new one. Though change can be intimidating, we have to accept it anyway. Instead of fearing that change will kill your marriage or your husband, I encourage you to appreciate how it will keep your relationship alive and interesting.

Astrea:

Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.

Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!

While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!

I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!

As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.

I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.

You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!

Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.

A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.

You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.