I may or may not be spending the weekend cooking all of the summer produce. You know how you want to express yourself, so just do it, on your own terms, in private, if that's better for you.
"Everybody does have the capacity to think creatively, flexibly, originally," Metzl says. "So the question is when and how it manifests." There are three things you can do to make that happen.
Remember, This Is Just Another Transition
The most important thing, Metzl tells us, is to remember how you've gotten through other changes in your life. The whole idea of resilience, the ability to be flexible and adapt to change-implies you're bouncing back from something. For others, Metzl says, it may be more about relationships. You're feeling bittersweet. Maybe you're a planner, and you find reassurance in looking ahead and managing what you can control. "Even in the best case scenario, if you've led a sheltered life, the truth is we have a lot of changes happening all the time, so we have a built-in resilience, some coping skills, to deal with that." So reflect on other changes you've endured well, and what you did that helped.
Those coping tactics are going to be different for each of us. And many others of us may want to focus more on how we regulate our emotions during a transition. Doodle a drawing of yourself saying goodbye to summer. You've been impacted by something in your environment, and that's a good thing. unphased by changes] may not be in touch with what's happening around them," Metzl says. Metzl says this mindset comes down again to our misconceptions about resilience. Einat Metzl , art therapist, resilience expert and chair of family therapy at Loyola Marymount University for her advice. "People who are hearty [i.e. It's just that the end of summer hits some of us so hard. "Most of us benefit greatly from finding a way to express what we're feeling and thinking in an intuitive way," she says. This weekend many of you will be Instagramming your last toes-in-the-sand beach selfie of the summer. From here on out, daylight will shrink to almost nothing as we battle icy winds on our way to and from work every day. There has to be a way to get through this transition with our dignity and wits intact.
So we asked Dr. "Anything that engages our body, mind, soul."
Don't think you're creative? "That's just a story you've been telling yourself," Metzl says. "Change and growth are often not linear," she says. "Honor that in yourself," Metzl says. Summer is over, and we all know what that means: Fun Time is over and winter is coming. After all, this is really what we're talking about when we look for ways to deal with our end-of-summer blues: Resilience.
Contrary to what most of us believe, resilience isn't a trait you either have or don't have, Metzl tells us. Put away other people's judgment, and your own judgment of yourself. And she would know; she helped survivors of Hurricane Katrina get into a more creative frame of mind, and she's seen how effective it is at helping people move forward with their lives.
Honor Your Angst
Who's to say getting the end-of-summer blues is necessarily a bad thing, anyway? Maybe what it really means is that you're actually paying attention to your life and not just getting through it like a robot. That can be through music, drama, dance, craft, even going out for a run. Can you hear the wolves howling outside your door?
Okay, I get a little dramatic this time of year. You'll want to connect with others who feel the same way you do. Put on a shadow puppet show. Make sure you're getting plenty of sleep, some exercise, go to yoga, see your therapist, renew your prescriptions, that sort of thing.
Express Yourself Creatively
Here's where Metzl brings in her experience as an art therapist. And if things taste a little salty, it's definitely not because I'm crying straight into the blueberry crumble. "The idea is that you weren't doing so well, and there is something within you that enables you to spring back to your previous form of functioning, or surpass it."
Well, that means you have to acknowledge there will be times in your life when you feel down. Close the drapes, turn on some music, and dance alone. "If you're feeling a sense of loss, you were attached to what happened before and it takes a minute to disconnect and connect to reground." So that sense of loss is a testament to how connected you were to summer. So what do we do? We can't just hunker down under a bearskin throw with a flask of whiskey until June. Hey, don't make me come up with ideas for you. Don't get so caught up in the fact that you're struggling. I'm talking self-care here, not self-medicating via rose. Instead, notice how you're feeling and acknowledge that you're going to need some time and maybe some rituals to make the transition and bring yourself back. "Really it's a process," she says, one that's accessible to all of us. Or maybe just bitter. "That's a much more empowering way to support yourself through the process."
Okay my sensitive flowers, we're going to get through this transition together.