By Teresa Currivan, LMFT, Parent Coach for Gifted/2e Children

April 2020

You might be noticing that the natural world seems to be thriving during the shutdown. While we are dealing with extreme anxieties over very real things, the animals have no idea. In fact, they seem quite content. In cities across the globe that are shut down, the deer, monkeys, and turkeys are venturing into the streets and wandering about freely. 

It’s as though we are in two very extreme realities right now. One of extreme anxiety and one of extreme peace. Perhaps the highly sensitive among us are feeling these even more. It’s not only our health we are concerned about. Light is being shed on our healthcare system, and those working in it. Light is being shed on the divide in income and worker protections. Light is being shed on the stresses of raising families without any outside support, including for some, true educational support.

Meanwhile, the natural world is out there and thriving. Because so many things are shut down, the air is as clean as ever. Is it my imagination, or are the birds louder? The other day a fox stared at me from afar. It seemed to want to come closer.

What if we let more nature into our lives? What if we could fully support the true nature of our children and ourselves? What would that begin to look like? Who and what would we need?

Stare at a squirrel or bird out your window. Take a deep breath. Take a walk if you can. I know, it’s crazy what is being asked of us right now. Especially for those of us who are home with our kids all day. And need to work. Or are worried about lack of work and pay. Go outside and see what is out there for you. Take a deep breath and really take it in. Maybe there is an answer that you couldn’t see before.

©2020 Teresa Currivan

Teresa Currivan is a mother, licensed marriage and family therapist, author, and coach and consultant at Help My Child Thrive. She is the author if My Differently Tuned-In Child: The Right Place for Strength-Based Solutions, and has been published on sites such as Mother.ly, Filter Free Parents, and is a blogger at GHF and Hoagies Gifted Education. Teresa also developed and uses The Currivan Protocol™ Assessment tool in order to more precisly assess and address the needs of differently wired learners, and is currrently adapting it to be used in the public education setting. She has connections to San Francisco Bay Area schools, including Fusion Academy, Big Minds Unschool, The Academy of Thought and Industry, and the San Franciso Unified School District. She specializes in non-neurotypical learners, twice-exceptionality,  educational fit, and family dynamics. She gives talks to parent groups and teachers. Follow her on Facebook at  fb.me/TeresaCurrivanCoaching.

This is part of the blog hop at Hoagies Gifted Education Page, “Giftedness in Times of Crisis.” Click here to read what other writers have to say about being gifted in times of crisis. https://www.HoagiesGifted.org/blog_hop_gifted_in_crisis.htm