A Moment to Remember & Reflect
This week, many of us are marking the one year anniversary of when Florida shut down...our communities were ordered to shelter in place due to the uncontrolled pandemic, and our work moved to virtual operations.
Anniversaries invite us to remember, and in a year like this, that is a heavy reality. As we reflect upon this anniversary and the experiences of the past year, you may feel renewed grief, overwhelm, or exhaustion. If you are feeling this way, know you are not alone. Know that this is expected. We are all mourning the collective trauma of this year. And we are still experiencing it. We still have loved ones getting sick and too many people dying. We still live with distance from loved ones, isolation, and the complex stresses of our circumstances.
Many of our leaders and members (many of you!) have been on the front lines of the crises this year. Whatever our role, however we serve our communities throughout Florida--we have, in a year of incredible loss, continued to nurture the bonds of care and love, community and hope. While it is important to remember the sorrows, it is just as important to recognize and celebrate the ways we have shown up for each other, for our communities and for our values as an infant and early childhood mental health community.
We learned more deeply what it means to center collective care and compassion in our services. We learned to more fully recognize our interdependence and prioritize the needs of those most vulnerable within and beyond our communities. We’ve helped people survive. We’ve cared for Florida's children and their families. We’ve created reminders of beauty and kindness, and practiced gratitude to sustain us.
So many of you, and your communities as a whole, have done so much to nurture life and care and hope in this time. May this have a lasting impact on our lives and work, reminding us always of what is most important.
with care,
Your FAIMH Family
Join us on Friday March 19th
At 12:00 PM EST, we will host a brief time where we can come together, remember those we have lost, honor each other, and allow ourselves to feel the weight of this moment in time--together, in community.
We will have a time of silence honoring people in our lives we have lost over this year, we will practice a lovingkindness meditation to share wellbeing with ourselves, others, and the world, we will share words upon which to reflect, and we will celebrate our resilience.
Register here. All are welcome, please share.
