Episode Transcript
Almost 2 months on from Cyclone Gabrielle, stability has begun to creep back into our lives. With our new temporary home taking shape, we now have some time and space to return to work and re-engage in past times we savoured prior to our lives literally being smashed up.
My employer has been extremely understanding by providing me – and others significantly impacted by the cyclone - with a wide berth: giving us much needed time and space to do whatever is necessary to get ourselves back on track. Professional counselling was offered – and accepted – to make sense of what happened and to talk through a way forward, with short-, medium- and long-term wellbeing kept front and centre.
Were it not for those invaluable 1-on-1 sessions, I would not have been in the right head space to return to part-time work now while balancing getting things organised in our new home.
Prior to the cyclone hitting, I commuted from home to work each day – a minuscule 6-minute affair; oh the joys of living close to work. However, as the cyclone wreaked havoc on my workplace, my colleagues and I are now working from home. It’s like COVID times, but without the restrictions of bubbles and all that they once entailed.
My Sunday afternoon seaside walks, a weekly event prior to the cyclone, have recommenced with vengeance. For me, hours of solitude, walking about 20 kilometres a week while breathing in fresh salt air is so refreshing, relaxing and rejuvenating for the body, mind and soul. Each walk lasts about 4 hours, feels equivalent to being pampered in a day spa followed by retail therapy but is much healthier on the wallet and waistline!
To help keep me committed to these weekly walks, I snap then upload to social media channels landscape photos taken on my excursions. This also enables me to preserve precious memories and provide interesting vistas for others who follow me online to feast on and enjoy. The comments they write are positive and reinforce my belief that despite everything, I am definitely where I am meant to be at this point in time.
Café catch-ups, with friends, family or colleagues, have also returned. In the work context, such face-to-face interludes help to break up the monotony of working from home. Each week, several sessions are offered to colleagues with an invitation to pop over to join me at a cafe, partake in a hot or cold beverage, and chat, chat, chat.
While life is certainly different now because of the traumatic last couple of months, there is a lot to be grateful for, including: being alive; having a new roof over our heads; experiencing the love and generosity of so many kind souls, including my employer and many others who were strangers prior to the cyclone hitting.
To finish, here’s a quote – source unknown - which epitomises a key lesson I’ve learned through this traumatic time:
“Be thankful for everything that happens in your life; it’s all an experience.”
