Is there anyone you know in our community that wasn’t affected by the Valley Fire? When you consider acts of kindness and generosity following the event, the ripple effect extends far beyond Lake County. While there are many differing degrees of impact, we all respond to disasters on a physical, emotional, spiritual and cognitive level.
From a mindfulness perspective, this broadness of impact points to the main reason we bring an intentionally compassionate attitude to ourselves and others. If not a fire, then some other painful situation or loss will occur in everyone’s life. No one is exempt.
As many within and outside the county move on with life, quite a few of us still deal with the aftermath in some way or another — whether we live or work in the affected area, are finding our way to a new home, or work on behalf of those finding their way. Even six months after, many of us may question our experience, behaviors, and ability to navigate through life in a balanced way.
What determines our reaction? There are many contributing factors: age, past trauma, direct experience of the fire, and tools gained in life that helped us through difficult situations are a few. While there isn’t a “one-reaction-fits-all” formula, recent work with California H.O.P.E. points to expected patterns of reaction not only for individuals, but our whole community. If we couple the knowledge of these common reactions with our natural resilience, mindfulness and compassion, we have many tools to help us all bounce back.
Many in our community (myself included) have experienced one or some of these predictable individual reactions: Chronic fatigue; sleep difficulties; easily startled or hyper-alert; increased clumsiness; weight change; headaches; digestive problems; anxiety; fear; depression; guilt; apathy; grief; disorientation; confusion; poor concentration; difficulty setting priorities or making decisions; recurring dreams, nightmares or flashbacks; changes in activity level; increased alcohol and/or drug use; difficulty communicating or listening; irritability, anger and/or frequent arguments; decline in job performance; frequent crying; and/or avoidance of triggering places or activities.
While it may be difficult to understand that six months after the event, some of us are still living in the midst of recovery from the fire, it may be even more difficult to realize some of us are still experiencing many of these reactions — some for the first time.
Understanding these anticipated symptoms can help us let go of harsh judgments and expectations of ourselves and others. We don’t have to take these responses so personally, as if there is something wrong with us, they are perfectly natural. Just knowing this can help us meet ourselves and our fellow community members with a little more acceptance, patience, kindness and understanding.
Just as we could never expect Lake County to recover fully from the Valley Fire without temporary outside assistance from generous individuals and other governmental entities, we, too, as individuals may need some short term extra support as we find the way to our new normal.
Every mammal has the natural capacity for resilience. We can consciously help create conditions that support ours. Creating a container of safety, compassion and care for ourselves can help us find our way through these temporary setbacks. Here are a few more helpful ideas:
Strengthen social and spiritual connections — Research indicates these are high on the list for resiliency! If you lost track of some of your community base as a result of the fire, reach out to reconnect or rebuild your network of safe and supportive people that can hear your story with acceptance, understanding and compassion.
Create short “To Do” lists and take frequent breaks — The tasks ahead of us may seem daunting, but breaking them down to small, achievable steps and sandwiching them with breaks of pleasant, rewarding activities not only reduces overwhelm, it can help us see our progress, adding to our ongoing success. Eat regularly and healthy — Bodies in stress are biologically wired to shut down digestion and immune response. Eating regularly guarantees nutrition; eating mindfully helps us be more fully present, which can lessen our stress and unhelpful thinking.
Curb consumption — It’s not uncommon to use food and/or other substances to comfort ourselves. Those of us susceptible to substance overuse may notice an increased desire up to two years following the event. As overuse may hinder our recovery in the long run, bringing a mindful eye to our consumption is a compassionate and helpful response.
Practice forgiveness — A lot of us may be operating short of our full capacity for some time. Understanding this may help us practice more kindness, acceptance and compassion toward ourselves, our loved ones and our community. The invitation: believe that we are all doing our best, given our circumstances, and be as helpful, understanding and forgiving as we can—to ourselves and others.
Reach out! — Receiving a little extra help now can help us reach optimum resiliency sooner. California H.O.P.E. offers ongoing support groups and individual counseling. Contact 707-572-0144.
JoAnn Saccato, MA is a mindfulness teacher, life coach and author in Lake County. To read more on this subject, visit her blog at www.compassion-basedmindfulness.com/mindful-impressions-blog .
