My pre pandemic cool boots now hurt my feet, Time to bid them goodbye and rethink what “pretty” will look like in a changed world.

I’m honored to have my perspective - as a mother, and grandmother, and physician - included in this article in this month’s Hadassah magazine by journalist Debra Nussbaum Cohen.

“At the same time, Covid has completely altered what it means to be a physician. “I was known as the doctor who would spend more time with patients and hear them deeply,” says Dr. Fischer, who works at an urgent care clinic. “Now I go to work wearing a face respirator, a shield over it, a bonnet and isolation gowns and gloves. We try to minimize our time in each room. Now people can barely hear you, they can’t see your face. It interferes with communication, you’re muffled through all those layers, and there is fear in these interactions.”

And there is grief over the losses—personal, professional and economic—that Dr. Fischer believes people will struggle with for a long time. “We’ve all lost really significant things. Relationships. Prom.” She says she will have to come to terms with not being able to hug her grandchildren, the children of her adult stepchildren, and not being able to hug her patients and staff. “When you don’t see your new baby grandkids for a whole year, you don’t get that back. Life won’t go back to the same kind of normal.”

How will you end this year better than you started?

How will you emerge from the pandemic stronger than you started?

This week is a great time to think about both questions!

TL;DR

A state of "flow" is when you lose yourself in an activity—one that is challenging , enjoyable, and lets you monitor progress toward a specific goal.

At least 40% of people surveyed have reported that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on their mental health.

Achieving a “flow state” by focusing on positive activities may be important in supporting your mental health and building resilience during these months of isolation. Researchers (in a study published last month) found that people who achieved a state of flow felt less lonely and more positive during isolation in the COVID pandemic.

This is my most recent drawing. I love working in charcoal; it’s loose, forgiving (read:erasable!), messy, expressive…

In the words of one of my wise therapist colleagues, “If you can’t give yourself some grace when you are in a shut down state, when can you?”

It is so important to know and acknowledge those days of really low energy and honor them. They are ok. I know I will wake up on another day with more activated energy, more resolve, and more motivation.

I am grateful for the wasp who stung my toe (painfully and with very theatrical swelling and redness) on October 19, 2019.

Of course there is a story involved, and I was not grateful at the time. Not at all grateful…

What tools do you need to get through a winter? To walk or drive safely on treacherous surfaces, and then to shelter safely? What do you need to survive winter?

Warm clothing…snow tires…boots,crampons/skis/snowshoes, walking poles. Salt for the sidewalks. Shelter, firewood, good books (or Netflix) for long evenings.

Feather your own nest with the tools you will need. Most of us know the ritual of winter preparations. Feather your nest.

And then, think; what tools do you need to survive times of stress and loss, to walk across the surface of anxiety and grief without sinking to your waist?

How do you find the sense of holiness and celebration to a holiday in a time of social distancing and Zoom? Thinking about creating your own menu of choices based on your values around holidays allows room to envision a day that is meaningful and relevant based on your own values.

How do you set your intentions for your life? How do you keep track of everything in a crazy multitasking world? How do you make sure you are paying attention to your big goals when you are drowning in the day to day details? Well, if you’re like me, you do it with colored markers, and mindful attention, and humorous self-reflection, and a cup of coffee along the way. And with a bullet journal.

Feeling body shame can keep us from building (or rebuilding!) healthy activity habits.  But freeing ourselves up to set realistic, value-driven goals, finding joy and cultivating positive self-talk, enlisting the support of a  friend, setting aside self-criticism - and then, sometimes a lemonade - can help us get back on track. Success comes in small steps, and today, I succeeded!

Dr. Vivian Fischer spent five hours Saturday walking toward Minneapolis’s devastation from her home in a suburb immediately outside the city. The family physician put on gray scrubs, her stethoscope, a mask and gloves, filled a backpack with whatever she had at home — extra masks, medical gloves, asthma inhalers, bandages, tweezers to pick glass out of cuts and water, and went to see where she could help.

Standing in the middle of a crowd of protesters in Minneapolis last Thursday, Dr. Vivian Fischer felt a mix of grief, rage, solidarity and fear. The local Jewish resident and her 16-year-old son Max took to the streets to join those calling for racial justice.

SAY HIS NAME: Muhammed.

My companion physician Nina and I were walking down Lake street through areas of broken glass and smoke, areas of protestors and clean up volunteers... so much emotion everywhere. We offered help wherever we could.