Tips to Handle the Fear in Our Current World Climate

It’s easy to let fear grab ahold of us and put us in its chokehold. With all the fear surrounding the coronavirus and the world economy, it isn’t that difficult to let the weight of it all fall onto your shoulders. This is something I struggled with during the last few months so I thought it might be helpful to share some tips that have helped me through all of this.

As the world dove into social distancing, our personal lives practically turned on their heads as we began staying at home to keep ourselves and everyone else safe. Some who were deemed essential workers were suddenly working far more than normal and some were abruptly sent home for the foreseeable future. It was an unexpected and rapid change of pace for all of us, causing us to react and cope in different ways. If fear surrounding everything going on has been getting to you, here are some tips that might be useful for you.

• Know when to turn the news off

Of course, it is vitally important to stay informed of what is going on so we are aware of protocols and current events as well as safety measures but at a certain point, the differing opinions and viewpoints can get overwhelming. Personally, I watch the news enough to stay informed and then I turn it off. I don’t stay with it and dwell on things because I have found that doing so increases my anxiety.

• Don’t be afraid to distance yourself from social media or people who are taking away from your peace.

After a few weeks into this crisis, I decided that I needed to start staying away from my social media accounts except to do things for the blog and my art. Because we are in unprecedented times, everyone is going to deal with it in their own way. For some, that involves venting on various social media accounts. If that works for them, that is wonderful, but for me personally, I found it to be too much so I began staying away from it as much as I could. I have found this to be quite helpful for my anxiety. 

• Do something you enjoy

I have a story with this one, so bear with me. When I found myself engulfed in the overall fear of the world, I decided to channel those feelings into painting this blue dragon. As I progressed through the planning and painting phases of this piece, I realized that not only was I doing something that gives me joy, I was finding my own way to process fear. I imagined my dragon friend using his fiery breath to burn it up to help restore peace in the world. I decided I wanted the spiral symbol to be a theme throughout the painting, and it wasn’t until I finished that I researched the symbology of the spiral.

The spiral has many meanings but the one that stood out had to do with going inward. One of the Celtic spiritual interpretations has the spiral representing the journey from the outer world of materialism and ego to the inner soul. I found that interpretation to be quite fitting both for my life right now as well as some friends of mine. I have heard from a few of them who shared that with having so much time away from their normal daily lives, they have been able to process events from their past and work through some personal issues.

I realize I digressed a bit there, but my point is, that when I feel fear taking hold, I cope with it by doing something I enjoy. Maybe for you, it’s spending time with family, reading a book or gardening. I could list things forever but whatever activity or hobby it is that gives you joy in life, focus on that for a while to give yourself a break.

At the end of the day, we all need to find a way of coping with all this that works for us. We are all unique individuals with our own beliefs, opinions, and outlooks on life, so that will look different for all of us. As long as we take care of ourselves while being mindful of others, we will all get through this together.

How are you dealing with this coronavirus world crisis? Tell me about it in the comments! I’d love to hear from you!

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