Week two of social distancing; how many more to go? As a mom with a house of two high school teens, a returning college freshman, and a husband with a conference call heavy schedule, the first week wasn’t fun for any of us. But like many families, we are learning to adjust to the unknowns and perhaps getting a better taste of what life can truly be about. My husband (the positive one of the bunch) calls this a rebirth or a 21st-century Renaissance where people can take time to pause for introspective analysis and exploration of what it is that brings a person joy. He further explains that we have an opportunity to slow things down at a pace where individuals can focus to develop individual coping strategies, because the art of happiness ultimately, is our best tool for resiliency.
The idea around finding joy is popular among many during this global fight against COVID-19, even Yale University is offering a free course on the subject (which I signed up for). So why does finding joy during a time of adversity, matter? Because getting through it, on a track of motivation and curiosity, can help us tap into unimaginable skills and talents during a time of limited, high-pressure driven expectations. In other words, doing it for the discovery, not the metrics.
As we think about ways to exercise how to work through this temporary demand in lifestyles and routines, storytelling, particularly hearing about human histories, can play a powerful tool as inspiring messages to keep moving forward — remember, this too, shall pass.
The Oral History Project, a collection of interviews of people who’ve lived in and along the Buford Highway corridor from any time starting in the 1950s and into the present, has been the cornerstone program of how we seek to meet our mission. Thought, what better vehicle to contribute towards a greater goal than sharing what we do and better yet, how individuals can do it from home, too. In this series, we will teach ways to utilize and activate our project, into the lives of our community, followers, and fans. This perhaps might be the first step towards discovering your way to hope, happiness and resiliency. Over the next month, we’ll dive deeper into each of the steps and share methodologies and research that can help efforts. If you are a student or teacher who’d like to initiate this Do-It-Yourself project from home, please reach out to me for ways I can help. Stay tuned for more and until then hugs & health from all of us at We Love BuHi.