Dear MDECOE and greater community,
Our work ahead lays heavy upon us in post-COVID higher education. And yet there are many resources, articles, programs, and presentations that are right here to support us as we move to the future, while recognizing our grief due to loss during this time, and reconciling this loss individually and collectively. A particularly inspiring source was shared by the CSUN University Counseling Services in a wonderful YouTube talk by Joshua Eyler,"On Grief and Loss: Building a Post-Pandemic Future for Higher Ed”. Dr. Eyler, Director of Faculty Development at the University of Mississippi, discusses “how we must reconcile loss in higher education to fashion something new.” He identifies how all of us are grieving the loss of pre-pandemic self, and the important role higher education can play in recognizing and making space to grieve the collective losses in the time of COVID. We can never go back to pre-pandemic life, because all that we have experienced and lost will not go away. Rather than “disregard all the loss and grief, we need to reconcile that loss, and move forward together.” Please watch this wonderful YouTube presentation for ideas on how we can all move forward:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJDEZs8vplU
For a list of many self-care options, please see our College of Education self-care website for resources for faculty, staff, students, and the community:
https://www.csun.edu/eisner-education/self-care/articles-information-self-care
We must move beyond the “let’s just return to work” framework and recognize the human condition of grief and loss that we are experiencing as a result of the COVID crisis. May each of you find space to do this.
Warmly,
Shari