Difficult Emotions

Staying home, staying connected, and the impacts of COVID-19

We are thinking about all of you and hope you and your communities are able to stay safe. We are inspired by the efforts of everyone to flatten the curve and stop the spread of COVID-19. We are grateful for our health care system in Canada and the tireless efforts of the healthcare community. Whatever we can all do right now during this window of opportunity to slow the spread of coronavirus will have significant positive effects later. But keeping social distance doesn’t mean we have to be isolated.

We have been thinking about what we can do to support social distancing and how emotional intelligence skills can help us through these times. Empathy is critical as a way of thinking about and being with others. Many of our neighbours, friends and colleagues are facing very real fears of how to make ends meet, caring for their family members, and wondering how they will put the pieces back together after this crisis is over. Social responsibility means that we are thinking about how we can show up for others, and expanding our focus and our actions beyond ourselves and our families. Flexibility is called for now as we adapt and shift on a daily basis, without the usual comforts of our routines and habits. Optimism, the EQ competency that is the cornerstone of resilience, will enhance our ability to deal with and bounce back from all that we are facing today, despite the unknown future. 

There is such a profound feeling of uncertainty in this unprecedented time of change, and we need to be together – to support each other. But our usual ways of being together are not available – no coffee meetings, no having friends over for dinner. 

So we are offering opportunities to gather virtually for anyone who wants to feel connected. Our first opportunity to get together remotely is a webinar this Friday so please join us for that! We are creating an online networking space to talk about how we are managing in these changing and uncertain times. The first networking meeting is scheduled to begin on March 25 at 10:00 am pacific time. We look forward to connecting with everyone.

As of today, our April EQ-i/EQ 360 Certification course that was scheduled for Toronto is going to happen online. The Heart and Science of Leadership for Women in Calgary is cancelled so we hope you can join us in Vancouver, July 15-17. Fingers crossed, the course will happen as we all adapt to the new times that are ahead of us. Stay tuned for more online learning opportunities.

Contact us if you have questions. And let us know how you are dealing with this unprecedented reality. We would love to hear from you.