We’ve been through a lot. Very few people that are living today can say they’ve been through a time like the Covid-19 pandemic, yet here we are, living through our new realities day by day and doing reasonably well.

Over the last 10 months, most of us have had to endure a drastic change in the way we live our lives. For the people that have the opportunity to work from home, this means setting up a work station in the space that’s available, perhaps working with kids around, and overall seeing our immediate family more. For the people that don’t have this same luxury, the “at-home” impact may not be as apparent, but certainly the reduced face-to-face interaction friends, colleagues, and extended family is creating a new social reality.

Any sudden changes in the way we interact with our families will cause stress because our habit-oriented minds are abruptly forced to create new pathways. As wonderful as it may be to see our family more, we’re not used to sharing our work space with our significant others or seeing our kids and SOs for more hours of the day.

While listening to my podcast episodes today, I stumbled onto NPR’s Life Kit episode on How Solitude Can Improve Your Mood. As I listened to the examples they shared and the common misinterpretations of the term solitude, I came to a few realizations:

• Think of solitude like an exercise you use to practice mental health, just like reading is important to be a good writer or practicing is important to being a good athlete, solitude is essential to be a centered, adjusted person

• Solitude is a mental act more than it is a physical act of separation from others, it can be as simple as shutting your eyes in a room with others and thinking inward (but, be sure to bring headphones if your surroundings are noisy)

• Like anything else worth doing, solitude takes practice and preparation — like you prepare for a conference call or a workout, set your intentions and let others know that you need uninterrupted time to practice