Justin Goddard, RP
5-38 Wellington Street East L4G 1H5 Aurora, ON, Canada

The pandemic has affected all of our lives in ways big and small. Thank you to CoMotion and Jet Propelled, Inc. for giving Tara Aronson-Pattinson and I a space to talk about the mental health, vocational, and community impact(s) of the pandemic.

On November 3rd @ 1pm join Tara Pattison and I on Zoom as we explore how the landscape of our mental health has been impacted by the pandemic. Registration is free: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/new-nrml-speaker-series-tickets

I'm a big believer in using emotion words to represent inner experience to ourselves. Does "acedia" fit yours? https://theconversation.com/acedia-the-lost-name-for-the-em

Seldom-acknowledged truth: We can still grieve the end of a relationship that wasn’t working for us.

Finally, for White folks just beginning to examine their privilege, "Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" can be a useful primer. In this famous and brief essay, Peggy McIntosh--a White woman--discusses the process by which she came to recognize that she has a series of unearned advantages in life as a result of her race. She itemizes 50 of them in this essay. The list begins with, "I can if I wish arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time...". https://www.racialequitytools.org/resourcefiles/mcintosh.pdf

"Policing Black Lives" by Robyn Maynard explores the way Canadian institutions have enacted violence against Black people throughout history. From the summary on Fernwood Publishing's website: "While highlighting the ubiquity of Black resistance, Policing Black Lives traces the still-living legacy of slavery across multiple institutions, shedding light on the state’s role in perpetuating contemporary Black poverty and unemployment, racial profiling, law enforcement violence, incarceration, immigration detention, deportation, exploitative migrant labour practices, disproportionate child removal and low graduation rates." https://www.audible.ca//Policing-Black-Lives-A/B081QW58Y2

Another resource for White people hoping to explore their Whiteness: "Me and White Supremacy" by Layla Saad. This can be a very uncomfortable read because White people often internalize White supremacy in ways that are undetectable to the person in whom the White supremacy resides (but in ways that are often very detectable to Black people, Indigenous people, and other people of colour). Layla lays bare internalized White supremacy in its various manifestations and supports the reader in challenging their relationship with White supremacy using frequent journal prompts. https://www.audible.ca//Me-and-White-Supremacy/1094135461

Following up on my earlier post about supports for White people hoping to help explore their Whiteness and White privilege, I'm including some book recommendations. The first one is "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander. This book was an eye-opening (for me) look into how the modern American legal system functions to maintain America's segregationist policies of yesteryear. The focus of the book is the American legal system, but many of the issues Michelle highlights apply to a Canadian context, as well. https://www.audible.ca//The-New-Jim-Crow-Audio/B0719FRBQC

Racialized people in Canada have always faced challenges that White people have not by virtue of how the culture responds to their races. The pain faced by these communities is not new, but the widespread visibility of this pain is, and right now many Black people across the Western world are experiencing that pain in a profound and visceral way as a result of a fresh wave of viral stories and images depicting police violence against people in their communities. With these im...agesand the corresponding protestsalso comes a fresh wave of friends, family, and strangers sounding off with sometimes-"unripe" opinions about these killings, the Black Lives Matter movement, and racial bias. Some Black people are also experiencing performances of self-serving allyship from their White counterparts, or clumsy but well-intentioned offers of support. It can all feel overwhelming. As a White man, there are elements of what it’s like to be Black that I will never, never understand. At best, during my finest moments of empathy I get an imperfect sense of what it’s like to live in a world where White supremacy affects racialized communities in so many ways, ranging from the small and nagging (like growing up in a world where flesh coloured bandaids didn’t match your skin) to the large and devastating (like wondering whether your Black child can run an errand for you without someone making the potentially deadly misjudgment that they’re up to no good, or that they’re dangerous). While not every Black person is experiencing these times in the same way, this is an exhausting and painful time for many. And although White people can never quite understand what it feels like to be Black in North America, White people can make special efforts to understand how it is painful, and we can choose to stand with Black communities in whatever ways they need. For many of us, this means exploring the ways White culture benefits its own, and creates harmful barriers for racialized people (e.g., like how White employers are less likely to offer interviews to those with Black-sounding names, even when the resumé is identical to that of someone with a White-sounding name"). It also means challenging these barriers and the thinking/feeling that created them. We have work to do. For me, this works partly involves compiling a list of resources for those who are hoping to explore their Whiteness and the often-insidious way that White supremacy harms our racialized communities. Stay tuned. #BlackLivesMatter

"Behind every criticism is a wish." -Esther Perel During times of self-isolation, tensions often increase amongst those with whom we're sharing space. These tensions can often make us critical, but we don't always acknowledge what those criticisms might be telling us about our needs. This means that we often miss opportunities for transformative moments in our relationships. "You're always breathing down my neck" can just as easily mean, "I haven't had any me-time in a while. I think I need to steal away for a bit and read a book."

For many of us this pandemic has limited the availability of our supports (e.g., AA meetings), reduced our contact with sources of joy (e.g., in-person hangouts with friends), and obstructed our access to sources of meaning/purpose (e.g., volunteering, meeting with our faith communities). At such times we need to flex our creativity to find new ways to spark joy, make meaning, and cope with distress. We may also need to innovate around our old ways of accomplishing these things. How are you #AdaptingToCovid?

In support of your efforts to practice social distancing, video and phone sessions are now being offered as we navigate these unusual times. Please reach out for more info. Take care and stay safe!