By Joanna Jullien
Pandemic science and amazing communication technology have enabled societies around the globe to respond in unison to the threat of coronavirus. Our collective response has been to “shelter-in-place” and “close up shop” until we have gathered enough data to inform disease prevention and intervention practices.
The world has essentially “stopped spinning” as our economic and social systems slowed on purpose to a near halt. This was our attempt as fellow human beings to “break the curve” and slow down the number of COVID19 cases overwhelming hospitals and mortuaries. And when we say we are all in this together, what does that mean?
I pose this question because we are not all having the same experiences of loss and grief. Some people have lost loved ones to death, many have lost incomes or whole businesses, children have lost school experiences, and for many children sheltering in place at home is not a good thing. It is human nature to measure grief. “Who suffers more than me?” we might ask ourselves. And the response may be self-pity or guilt depending upon how you choose to answer yourself.
I suspect the biggest loss we all might experience is a lack of confidence in our ability to remain united as each person deals with their own adverse consequences resulting from shelter-in-place. For example, high school seniors may feel awkward or guilty about feeling sad over their losses when others have lost family members to death by COVID19.
Below are a couple of resources for high school seniors, who are dealing with the loss of many experiences in high school that previous generations take for granted: graduations cancelled, proms cancelled, last opportunities to complete the work they started on their academic records, and facing big question marks about starting college in the fall.
Through my own life journey of 60 years on this planet and 35 years of parenthood, I have found that the fact that God grants and honors free will to all of humanity, including infants, tends to be under emphasized and the human desire to control free will as if we are God often prevails. This mindset keeps faith as a “Sunday’s only type of thing” in family life. As a lifelong student of the human condition, I understand this desire to be in control of the things we do not have control over is a perception of love distorted by fear.
RECONCILING COVID19 with God’s Divine Plan for Your Family
Wednesday, May 6th • 12:00-1:30pm » REGISTER HERE
This online training is for parenting children of any age.
Who should attend?
Parents who seek to strengthen their Christian values at home amidst a cyber-powered popular culture that hypes fear and anxiety.
Parents of all creeds who seek to strengthen family bonds during a time of crisis.
Ministry leaders supporting parents and families
CLASS of 2020 SUPPORT GROUP
(Offered by Restoration - the Non-Profit arm of Recovery Happens)
Friday’s, 1pm to 2pm. Learning how to rally the internal and external resources to process grief is learned behavior. This support group offers a safe place for youth to connect with one another and figure out how they want to respond to this crisis. Zoom Meeting with Recovery Happens, every Friday 1pm to 2pm. Go to www.zoom.com and enter ID: 4236595845
YOUNG PEOPLE’S Virtual 12-Step Support Group
(From The Pathway Program)
Wednesdays @ 6:30PM
Support for recovery while social distancing
Mobile: Downoload “Blue Jeans” app and enter Meeting ID: 334-656-087 // Desktop: https://Bluejeans.com/334656087 // Technical support contact Kevin@thepathwayprogram.com
Joanna Jullien is an author, educator and consultant on strengthening the parent-child relationship in a cyber-powered world. She is a former technology executive trained in behavioral science at U.C. Berkeley, a mother of two grown sons, and an author of books for practical guidance on parenting, growing up and family life in the network culture. As a family and technology culture advisor, Joanna has appeared on 103.9FM The Fish, 710AM Keeping Faith in America, 1380AM The Answer, and Examiner.com.
Original Post: Core Connectivity
About: We are a non-profit education center founded in Roseville, CA to strengthen the parent-child bond in a hyper-connected world. Our mission is to restore families with the mustard seed of faith that declares liberty already belongs to the soul because one God, the Creator of all humanity, grants every human being intelligence and free will to choose what to believe, and that is power that can never be taken, but is easily surrendered to the bully, the drug or the device.