Celebrating Holidays and Milestones Amid COVID-19 Outbreak

With over 1.5 billion people world-wide asked to stay home and tens of thousands of deaths related to COVID-19, it may seem ludicrous to celebrate Easter, or anything. After all, our country is in despair with news of new deaths ever-present, as we try to get the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic under control and protect loved ones and vulnerable populations. However, that is precisely why we must celebrate Easter, milestones, and holidays. These events allow us to find some normalcy in this chaos, find comfort in doing what is within our power to do, create positive memories amid this era of trauma, and help us and the children around us feel calm and safe. 

Remember when you were a child and the lights went out during a storm; your parents didn’t fret. Instead, they made the best of it with outdoor cooking, flashlights and fun so you felt calm and safe. In fact, dating back several millennia B.C. ancient civilizations celebrated despite pandemics and tragedies. Research has found that people who take the time to celebrate events and milestones tend to have more energy, better physical health, improved mental health and less anxiety. So let’s be good to ourselves and create positive memories by celebrating Easter and the holidays that follow during this time of crisis. 

Here are some ways you can keep celebrating Easter and other events:

• Attend an online church service if you normally celebrate Easter at church. 
• Participate in virtual egg hunts such as the one on Minecraft.
• Chalk your sidewalk or driveway with milestone announcements, special notes to your community or holiday drawings.
• Decorate- set out and eat on your best china, spend time cooking a special meal to enjoy, and decorate your home, as if you were going to have a full house. Then sit back and enjoy the scenery and great meal.
• Embrace full-on happy color and bring in greenery and flowers from your yard. Spring stands for fresh beginnings, which is important now more than most other times.
• Fill your home with music, including special celebrating and seasonal songs.
• Have a walk by Easter egg hunt-put pictures of eggs in various places and provide prizes to those who locate the most, from a distance.
• Host a private VIP egg hunt in your backyard with those you live with to celebrate Easter. Remember, you are never too old to hunt for eggs.
• Have a story time with the kids in your family and read a holiday favorite via videoconferencing. 
• Host virtual parties- plan as usual; design and send evites for your virtual anniversary/birthday/holiday party, and enjoy the moment via virtual get togethers. Memories of these parties can be shared for years as a testament of how you had fun and overcame challenges to celebrate that special birth, marriage or holiday.
• Post your celebratory photos and videos online so the world can celebrate with you and see that you are embracing life.
• Setup conference calls and video conferences to connect with loved ones on special days.
• Use your cell, or other equipment to record the celebration for posterity. Share those photos and videos with loved ones so they can be part of the big day. 
• Schedule a therapy session to help support your thoughts and mental health if holidays or milestones is a trigger for grief.

Ince Counseling is here for you and will be open on Easter Sunday and Easter Monday. If you find that you need support, visit our website at www.incecounseling.com to share how we can be helpful. ​

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References

• Carnes, John W., H. James Brownlee Jr, and Charles E. Aucremann. "Are the holidays hazardous to your patients' health?." (1986): 21-23.
• Fetzer, Thiemo, et al. "Coronavirus Perceptions and Economic Anxiety." arXiv preprint arXiv:2003.03848 (2020).
• Griffin, Eve, et al. "The paradox of public holidays: hospital-treated self-harm and associated factors." Journal of affective disorders 218 (2017): 30-34.
• Phillips, David P., and Judith Liu. "The frequency of suicides around major public holidays: Some surprising findings." Suicide and Life‐Threatening Behavior 10.1 (1980): 41-50.

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CONTACT US

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Author

Tamara Ince is the founder of Ince Counseling, a boutique style group practice that provides a safe milieu where individuals can reflect on their past, identify their triggers and learn to better manage their lives with awareness.  Tamara has always been curious about the brain and behavior, and how life’s circumstances shape how we feel about ourselves and how we receive information from our environment.  Follow Tamara @InceCounseling.