by Claudia Linker (Monnet)
At the latest since omicron, the "what can we do" optimism has been mixed with resignative accents in open conversation. That's why resilience exercises have been even more important than usual in my consultations and team moderations in recent months.
I had already started writing this article when I was asked for tips on the topic at the online roundtable of the Spitzenfrauen im Norden (top women in the north) Spitzenfrauen im Norden. I held the book up to the camera, from which I will quote here: "The Big Little Book of Resilience".
Matthew Johnstone says, "Learn the art of communication," and illustrates the tip with two people facing each other in a truly real way.
But now omicron. It's excellent that we can meet via video. Digital conferences will certainly remain with us beyond the pandemic, because they have proven to be resource-saving and efficient. We've also become pros at getting the lighting right, as well as the framing.
But it's also reduced communication. "Zoom fatigue" is something we experience because it takes much more effort to assess and understand people and groups with whom we are only virtually connected. Being physically close helps to be humanly close.
It is therefore no surprise that the renowned psychoanalyst Hans-Jürgen Wirth published an article at the end of 2021 on the potentially pathogenic consequences of isolation. Too few encounters are a danger to mental health. We can all confirm that by now from our own experience: why else would we miss cinema? After all, movies are usually available in streaming.
Resilience means accepting what we can and cannot change, Johnstone said. I can't change omicron. But writing by hand is another, very effective way to create human closeness. Wirth speaks elsewhere of the inner dialogue between the writer and the reader: "Auch wenn man alleine ist, ist immer jemand da, wenn auch nicht aus Fleisch und Blut" ("Even when you're alone, there's always someone there, even if not flesh and blood.").
So I'm writing more again. And I'm writing postcards. I've been using them in trainings, workshops, and coaching sessions for decades. For example, as an icebreaker exercise: "Which card best matches your expectations right now? Or as a transfer exercise: "Which card motivates you to implement what you have learned? Where do you place it? What thoughts do you jot down on it?" And also quite classically, to personally thank, congratulate, greet.
As long as I've been using postcards in a professional context, browsing for new ones also serves me to bridge waiting times for connecting trains. If a motif makes me smile or fits a theme, I often buy several of them, enough for at least one seminar. In the meantime, I have accumulated many, many remnants. I like to use them to surprise people in my network whom I miss.
Give it a try: A postcard or handwritten letter in the midst of the usual mail is a surprise, arouses curiosity and probably triggers as much joy when you read it as you ideally felt when you wrote it. Which brings us to three resilience tips:
Tip 1:
Write with pleasure using a fountain pen or other beautiful writing instrument. Enjoy the writing itself and thus practice appreciating the little things.
Tip 2:
Rejoice in the good memories that move you as you write. Become aware of your joy with a conscious deep exhale. It helps to sigh "Well, yes" with a smile or to breathe a very long "Nice".
Tip 3:
Have the courage to use warm, personal words and use them to practice letting your heart speak.
You feel the idea is beautiful, but you wouldn't know WHAT to write specifically? Well, as Johnstone said: Learn the art of communication.
I just received a postcard from a coaching client myself. My joy was great!