How Are You Feeling? Colorado Fires, COVID-19, Social Injustice

Ominous skies, odorous air, orange haze, and overwhelming emotions. That’s what many Coloradans and beyond have experienced this historic summer. Fires continue to rip through tens of thousands of acres destroying homes, displacing wildlife, and depleting livelihoods.

These disasters can be difficult to digest, and in 2020, stress levels are further stoked by a catalytic social crisis and global pandemic! With so much heat to contend with, where do we begin? We might feel lost or confused but we can always recalibrate with one essential skill—acknowledgment.

The Struggle is Real

Although cliché to say, these “uncertain times” of global challenge and change can create a myriad of existential contemplations and sensations, ranging from joy and courage to worry and sadness. Wherever you fall on the feelings spectrum, it’s more than probable that things you were once able to control, and liked to control (such as employment, family schedules, social engagements, shopping without a mask, travel, or just having alone time), are now totally outside of your control, and might even seem like a downward spiral.

Adjusting and adapting to change can create feelings of loss and grief. If you’ve lost your home to a fire, a loved one to COVID-19, or experienced traumatic injustice, feelings associated with these events can overwhelm and impact many areas of life. People grieving and adjusting through change might tend to sleep more or less, work more or less, lash out, isolate, over-schedule, cancel plans, arrive too early, or forget things entirely.

Water Cools Fire

To keep moving forward, we’re often taught to control our emotions and that feelings cloud judgment/logic, when in reality, they are a significant source of information. Feelings serve as an internal compass to core values and personal schema.

The key to a deeper understanding of our emotions is to build insight by applying the appropriate skills in order to notice and acknowledge our thoughts, behaviors, and other people mindfully, without judgment. This process helps to connect us to our inner-selves as an essential resource for authenticity, healthier relationships, and better decision-making.

So, if you feel like you can’t control your feelings as of late, it’s important to remember that you do not, in fact, need to control your feelings. Rather, you can regulate your emotional state with certain skills, much like a dam regulates the flow of water. While we don’t necessarily want a waterfall of emotions, blocking or damming them entirely would create overflow elsewhere. Therefore, we must allow our emotions to flow using compassion, self-awareness, and coping skills as the dam walls, or modulators.

Channel Your Inner Hero

While our beloved firefighters bravely battle flames across Colorado, California, and elsewhere, we can work to regulate the fear/anger/sadness with simple practices and activities done independently or with a companion. Here’s a list of things you can do to help regulate your emotions, cope with change, and feel empowered!

Pay attention to your feelings. Notice, name, and express them.

Be creative. Make art, write, sing, dance, rearrange a room, share an idea, learn something new.

Pick-up litter and/or drive less. “Climate grief” is a real experience identified by feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, and powerlessness associated with the impacts of climate change. Feel empowered and enrich your self-care by nourishing the planet that nourishes you. Picking up litter (safely with a glove/grabber) reduces pollution, helps animals, protects our soil, and more. Additionally, reducing or consolidating the use of your vehicle during fire season (and COVID-19) can help to improve air quality and save lives.

Nurture yourself with breath. Sit or lay comfortably, close your eyes, and slowly breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth/nose… again, slowly… in through your nose and out through your mouth/nose. Repeat this breath at least 4 times and notice the sensation of expansive fresh air traveling down your center and into your core.

Visualize. Acknowledge feelings of anger/sadness caused by images of fire seen in the media by allowing yourself to experience the emotion. Identify, embrace, and use your imagination to allow them to flow through a dam or river that you’ve visualized. Release your emotions as you release the water and notice how it cools, cleanses, and nourishes.

Be assertive. Know what’s right for you and follow-through. Whether that means showing up to speak your mind or staying home to replenish your mind, being mindful (nonjudgmental) of your needs will serve you and others well.

Reframe. Be glad for who you are, help offered, and gifts received. You don’t need to apologize for being you. Something to reflect upon: How many times a day could you replace the auto-piloted “I’m sorry” with a genuine “Hello” or “Thank you?”

Wherever you are and whatever you’re confronting, may you stay true to who you are by acknowledging your feelings and allowing yourself the chance to experience newfound insight, personal growth, and authentic living. A lot of what’s been for so long may no longer be okay— change, and our feelings, are okay.

Additional Resources

For the latest news and prevention tips on COVID-19 visit the Center for Disease Control website.
For updates on Colorado fires visit the Colorado State website.

This blog post is not intended as counseling or clinical advice. If you need support, please reach out to a professional in your state or local area.