Have you noticed a big letdown recently?
It shows up in a lot of different forms, but I think they’re all related.
–Eve did a great job of keeping her business going even when it seemed unlikely. Now things have stabilized and are even on the upswing. Unfortunately, Eve notices herself wasting a lot of time, having trouble concentrating, and using more energy to get less done. She expected to have more of a sense of gratitude or accomplishment at this point. Instead it’s more like “What’s the point?”
–Ian thought he would feel better after the election. He feels relieved it’s over and feels like things are getting better, but he’s exhausted, unmotivated, and a little depressed.
–Tracy had been very careful about the virus. She followed all the rules and took the potential health consequences seriously. Now she feels herself bargaining with her boundaries and losing patience with all the isolation and distance. “I know it’s still too soon to let down my guard, but it’s like when you have to pee and you pull into your driveway and you feel your body go ‘close enough.'”
Each of us is at a different place in the process of coping with all the recent turmoil.
Collectively, though, much of what we’ve been contending with is in some stage of transition right now. That means we are in the midst of a lot of “concluding” energy.
Even if the end of a current phase hasn’t arrived, it’s in sight. We are seeing lights at the end of some tunnels finally.
One way or another we have all been “getting through this” for quite some time. Politics, pandemics, weather, etc., have all caused us to hunker down, to go into survival mode, to put our lives on hold.
This vigilance, worry, caution, avoidance, fear, hyper-alertness…it costs us. Our systems are not intended to stay in that kind of state indefinitely.
Eventually the bill comes due and we have to experience the toll that it takes to stay in that weird aroused-yet-shutdown zone.
In addition, everything we felt we couldn’t or didn’t want to deal with during the various crises got pushed into the future.
They would have to wait until things felt more safe and under control.
So when the threat level starts to finally dip below red, we start to loosen our grip a little, and unclench our jaw occasionally, and take a few deep breaths – and that’s when all the emotion, exhaustion, and stress that got postponed while we were “getting through it” starts to rise to the surface.
Clearly, we will be dealing with the fallout from this period in history for some time to come.
But the good news might be that the confusing little slump you or somebody you know is wrestling with could actually be an indication of an improvement in the bigger picture.
In many cases falling apart or going into a funk is a very healthy response to being held hostage by a lengthy trauma.
We aren’t all the way through this yet, but little by little we’re starting to imagine a time when it might all be okay again. And part of the way we know that is that the backlog of dark stuff we put on hold is beginning to spill out.
If your spirit is prompting you to have a conversation about navigating transitions, I encourage you to consider working with me.