 “Welcome to another day in paradise everyone!” This is the somewhat ironic good morning that my hubby greeted me with on Day 12 of the covid-19 pandemic self-isolation. You can’t knock the guy - he’s doing his best to keep things light. As his words rolled around in my head for the rest of the day, I reflected that he may be onto something…in psychological terms his morning greeting would be known as reframing the narrative or cognitive reframing. With cognitive reframing, we can change the way we look at things and consequently change how we experience them. Transforming the more negative thoughts into positive ones. Like the thoughts we may hold when we experience the grim realities of a pandemic caused by fear, physical distancing, economic uncertainty, self-isolation, worry, and being quarantined in our homes for indefinite amounts of time. With reframing the narrative, we challenge ourselves to illuminate positive sides of challenging situations, avoid seeing only the negative, and identify a brighter version of what is happening. If you’d asked me 6 months ago for my definition of paradise, I can assure you that it would not have included being house-bound with my husband, and 2 teenagers; being limited to only virtual connections with colleagues, friends and family; while watching the world and society as we know it, temporarily unravel.
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