With the 5-year anniversary of the Covid-19 pandemic and people reminiscing about lockdowns, restrictions and those strange 'unprecedented times' I was interviewed by Woman's Weekly magazine about how that period affected – and effectively, changed – my life.
After over two decades of working in the communications industry – as a journalist, writer, editor and copywriter – the pandemic was a time of forced pause and reflection. I spent a lot of time volunteering and helping those in need in my local community, and I loved it. It was an awful time for so many and for so many reasons, but for me it was also a reminder of how doing good for others is not a one-way street: it helps us to feel connected to the world around us, and reaps great psychological benefits.
I wanted more of that.
I started to study to be a counsellor in that first year of the pandemic in 2020 and within two years was doing more volunteering at my local hospice, working as a bereavement support volunteer in a placement. The backlog of clients was horrendous: so many had experienced traumatic bereavements under pandemic restrictions and abnormal conditions. It was difficult work: the pandemic was hard to make sense of. But the work – helping people to cope with their grief – was a privilege and an honour.
My training and experience has taught me more than just grief theories. I have learnt that we are all more resilient than we think we are. That when we're grieving the very basics of self care can be hard, but that ultimately, if we can treat ourselves with compassion and kindness, we'll find it a lot easier to cope with loss. And that talking to someone – whether that's a grief counsellor like me, or a trusted friend of family member – makes the burden so much easier to bear.
