May 14, 2020 — I hope you can’t relate to this: yesterday morning, my first waking thought was, “I want to curl up into a little ball and stay that way all day.” Come to find out, there are 15.2 million Google search results for that same thought!

For me, it was too much news, too much sugar, too much confinement, too much conflicting information. And, because Cardies generally feel so deeply, to this you will surely relate: it was my heart going out to too many families suffering too many sad, sad losses. Question is, how do we honor our emotions and still keep on?!

I thought of an email that I’d received from my wise and compassionate friend, Liza Greenberg, a tenured professor at Miami Dade College (MDC). “This was finals week and, whew,” she wrote, “exhausting. Left and right, putting out student fires: missed finals, requests for last-minute extra-credit, questions on policies I had so carefully spelled out over and over! I was ready to write a scathing announcement to all my students but stopped and reminded myself, nobody signed up for this. None of us signed up for it, and we’re all in it together.

“At the very beginning of MDC’s transition from what was to what is now,” Liza recalled, “our chairperson told all of us teaching this semester, ‘Be kind and understanding!’ He advised us to use our discretion come final grading time … if a student was in good standing before the pandemic took us out of the classroom — but genuinely had trouble completing work and meeting due dates when we shifted to remote teaching/learning — we could choose to assign a final grade based on the pre-Covid part of the semester. So I’m always mindful that it’s part of my job to be compassionate with our students, to kindle kindness and a spirit of mutual support.”

Compassion. Kindness. Support. Liza’s thinking was so great, just the gentle perspective I needed. And it took me back to a conversation I’d had with myself soon after my dear dog died April 2020. I was really hurting from the loss and sat back to carefully consider just what it was that that sweet, seven-pound furball had brought to my life those 12 years she’d been gleefully glued to my side. I felt it was important to be really clear and specific about what she gave me because, from then on, it’s what I’d need to give myself. My hope is that you’ll promise these things to yourself, too:

Warmth, Patience, Tenderness
Loving respect for what I have to say.
A frequent nudge to get outside and
enjoy watching the world go by.
Never leave my side. Always be on my side.
Be in the moment. Go with the flow.
Never miss a meal or chance to nap.
Feel at home anywhere and everywhere.
Be the kindest you that you can be.
Whether on two legs or four,
new friends are always just up ahead.
Trust and surrender. Remember, all is well,
all is well, all is well.

jodee stevens
founder & chief creative