Isolated Heart

Searching For Connection In A Time Of Crisis

The alarm rings precisely at 8:00 am. Your eyes open to the same four walls surrounding your physical presence. As you sit up in bed and look outside, not much movement can be observed . . . you’re still in a state of quarantine. You start to wonder if your mind or your heart feels more isolated. You quickly feel it in your chest, “My isolated heart at it again.”

You wonder if anyone else is feeling this way: isolated, broken, lonely, sad, miserable, hopeless and anxious. Does it even matter if anyone else is feeling like this? You can’t reach them anyways. Texting and calling feels superficial at this point. Your interest in virtual connections has been saturated; it feels superficial and distant.

You just want someone who can understand and share your pain. But why would you want others to share your pain? Isn’t that evil? Perhaps at this point in time, social distancing is making you bitter and you no longer care for others. But then your mind starts rationalizing on how your heart has gone crazy.

Usually it’s the other way around; your heart attempts to correct your mind which is prone to experiencing evil thoughts. But during this coronavirus pandemic, your isolated heart is becoming susceptible to evilness. Your mind is already affected by evilness but it tries to salvage your heart because it knows that without a pure heart, it will let you down.

And there you are stuck in the middle of three components: a fragile mind screaming for substances as a form of entertainment, a depressed heart that is now bleeding tears rather than oxygenated blood and you. You are the third component who has to quickly get your mind and heart under control or you will go down with them.

But how do you avoid going down? You stay positive during times of adversity and you connect with people who can understand your pain and who are going through a difficult experience themselves. When we connect and share hope and love, nothing can bring us down. This is one of the goals of The DSM Ready Movement.

Are you Ready? (This is Defeating Stigma Mindfully)