Feb: Good news from MWC + a SNOW day!
Dear friends,
What a moment it was on January 20th to watch the first female Vice President of the United States of America take the the oath of office! I had chills running up my arms and tears streaming down my cheeks. The glass ceiling officially had a hard reset. I hope you were able to savor that and appreciate the concerted energy and effort women (and especially women of color!) have sustained for many years to make this happen. That our first female Vice President is also a woman of color made the experience all the sweeter.
I was moved by the sentiments of Camille Barnes, our Diversity and Inclusion Manager here at the Center. She wrote joyfully that day about the significance of representation to her:
"For so long, we were taught that our color, our hair texture, our features were shameful to have, were ugly. So to be a woman today in a time where our melanin is not only acceptable but celebrated, where our features are not only applauded but replicated, where our magic is not only recognized but embraced! Today I feel like royalty . Today, I am so proud of my melanin and the sisterhood I share with those who look like me”
It was a tremendous day that felt like an early kick-off to Black History Month in the midst of a season that has been very difficult.
This pandemic experience has been a process of distillation--clarifying what it is that makes life enjoyable and enriching for us. It’s really not all that complicated after all is it? After the ‘cover your ass’ basics of having all of our essentials (which is no small feat), it is also the simplest of things. It is the sun and breeze on your face, smiles between strangers, family dinners, long hugs, coffee with friends, waving kids off to school, play-dates and birthday parties, holding new babies, and holding hands with grandparents. It's also going to movies, browsing bookstore shelves, aimlessly wandering the grocery store, and taking it slowly and calmly instead of every outing feeling so stressful.
"The psychological effects of losing all but our closest ties can be profound. Peripheral connections tether us to the world at large; without them, people sink into the compounding sameness of closed networks. Regular interaction with people outside our inner circle 'just makes us feel more like part of a community, or part of something bigger,' Gillian Sandstrom, a social psychologist at the University of Essex, told me. People on the peripheries of our lives introduce us to new ideas, new information, new opportunities, and other new people. If variety is the spice of life, these relationships are the conduit for it." Amanda Muller, The Atlantic
We are here in this community to make ties and strengthen connections in a variety of ways. One new opportunity for connection that we are excited to announce is a group for parents of children with disabilities, which will be facilitated by JaNae West, our resident child and family therapist. Keep reading below for information about Serenity Corner, which will have it's first meeting on Thursday March 4th and is forming now!
Reach out for any support you may need at this time, goodness knows, we need to stick together.
Warmly,
Kellie Wicklund, LPC, PMH-C
Owner + Director
