Wood's Homes Blog

If you remember the last entry in this series, I spoke about how using a substance is a negative maladaptive strategy to cope with trauma.  

Now that we’re in our second lockdown, many of us may be thinking about some of the things we’ve given up over the past year – hugging friends and family members, meeting a child born during the lockdown or celebrating the life of a loved one who passed away – and for some, it may be a long list.

To say I was blasé about the risks associated with COVID-19 is an overstatement; however, I can also say that I was not as rigorous about following the protocols as I could have been.

It is for this reason that I’m sharing my personal experience with COVID.

No one has time for Blue Monday. We don’t even know what day it is anymore.

Several years ago I wrote a blog debunking the myth of Blue Monday, but this year I could not help but think about how little importance specific days have become in the wake of COVID-19.  COVID birthdays and other special events have all taken on new (or less) meaning because they can’t be celebrated in the same way. I recently wrote a celebratory note to a friend who had achieved an important milestone, realizing “wish we could celebrate in person” could not be made more palatable by suggesting that we will somehow do it in the future. There is only so much you can put off before there is a sense of not wanting to bother.

2020 has been a year of “darkness” for many. Times of “light” - creating space for joy, peace, friendship, freedom and the sweetness of life has never been more urgent in history. The convergence of movements like Black Lives Matter, climate activism, the #MeToo movement, and Canadian Truth and Reconciliation amidst global waves of COVID-19 are a stark reminder of the need to prioritize one’s mental health and emotional wellbeing.

It was Oct. 4, 1996. I was four days overdue and after being sent for a routine ultrasound, they found massive fluid in my baby's brain. Everyone and everything went into panic mode. I had no idea at the time that this was to be the death of my pre-conceived notion of what our lives would be like and the beginning of a journey most can never even imagine. She came into the world in the early hours of Oct. 17, code blue (not breathing).

Bullying is a workplace issue.

When you were growing up, did you ever imagine this would be a reality? Statistics on bullying range from 19% to 60% of people having experienced this behaviour at work. It’s easy to recognize the blatant bullying – the yelling, nasty comments and jokes at someone’s expense. But what we sometimes don’t recognize as bullying are the callous remarks in meetings, rolled eyes, gossiping and spreading of rumours. Remember – the majority of your communication is not what you are saying, but how you are saying it.

The old adage, ‘good things come to those who wait’ is likely getting very old to many of us right now. Tom Petty once crooned that “the waiting was the hardest part”, Dr. Seuss wrote about The Waiting Place, where “everyone is just waiting” and poet Mary Oliver described “the dull hangover of waiting,” which I feel more aligned with as we enter yet another month of waiting for the pandemic to end. 

What does waiting mean to you?

In Alberta, October is recognized as a month to appreciate our Foster and Kinship Caregivers for their commitment to going above and beyond in meeting the needs of the children placed in their care.

Wood’s Homes Family Support Network is honored to support and recognize 27 dedicated kinship homes in 2020.

In Alberta, October is recognized as a month to appreciate our Foster and Kinship Caregivers for their commitment to going above and beyond in meeting the needs of the children placed in their care.

Wood’s Homes Foster Care Network is honored to recognize 34 dedicated foster homes that have helped support up to 80 children in 2020.

I love to learn.

I’m often curious about what it means to be successful, and I enjoy researching and reading about many philosophical figures, doctrines, and religions that explore the way human beings think and find meaning in their lives.

At 23, I started to fully embrace the importance of my mental health, and working at Wood’s Homes two years later complimented this embrace.