Episode description

So we’re beginning to get used to being cooped up at home with the whole fam, movements restricted to only a few essential outings. Perhaps you’re still working in an essential role, perhaps you’re in hibernation.  

Let’s pause for a minute and ask “how’s your mood been?”  

It struck me yesterday when one of my kids dropped his bundle over the start of the new school term here in Melbourne (which, let’s admit, was a total shitshow) that he had been carrying a lot of stress, worrying about how school was going to look.  

All I can say is he’s still in his pajamas... 24 hours later (mother of the year!).  But what about YOU?  

If our kids are exploding with emotion, what are you holding in?  

I noticed in myself the other day that I just COULDN’T. 

I couldn’t listen to messages on my phone. 

I couldn’t look at my email inbox. 

I couldn’t look at comments or questions on my social media posts.  

I. Just. Couldn’t.  That night I had a teary outburst of my own. Worried about my grandmothers, both in their 90s, both living alone, both in Tasmania where I can’t visit. Worried about the northwest of Tasmania where two hospitals have been shut down and over 5000 people have been put into mandated isolation after an outbreak there. It’s where my father’s people are from. It struck a worried chord in my heart.  

But they were just the outside reasons for my mood, which had been flat for days. They were just the “excuses”.  The real reason was that I’d been burning the candle at both ends, and in the middle, trying to do all the things.  

I’ve just sold a business, but am emotionally very much engaged in its ongoing success. I’ve got business coaching clients, some of whom are worried about where their businesses are headed. I’ve spoken to more people who’ve been in tears themselves lately than I can count. I’ve got children stressed to the back teeth. I’ve got a husband who’s lost his job.  

And that’s before I even contemplate my own needs.  And that’s what got me wondering today about you. How are YOU travelling?