Amidst personal and collective pain, a lot of us can feel resistance to the pressure to keep up with the Christmas spirit. It is as if the light and joy bring us in sharp contrast with the darkness enshrouding our lives and the precarious times we live in.

We often hear how we need to build resilience in this time. There is immunity resilience. What about psychological resilience?

Apropos to our times, the persona is a kind of ‘mask’ we put on. The persona is the superficial posturing we put on that conceals our real Self. It is the PR part of our personality.

How do we see outside the binary of either/or in these divisive times? If the tension of current times is any indication, we are unable to relate to each other due to the clashing of complex identities and values. It seems easier to live in separate worlds/bubbles/cultures/platforms in the further atomisation of our existence.

What is the unconscious impulse to DO and be REALLY busy even in a pandemic, even in lockdown?

What many folks may not realise, spring commencing in April on is the highest rate for suicide here in the UK, the US, and internationally. I want to lift up the psychoanalytical perspective of this causal link between spring and our internal suffering.

Our wounds, our sorrows, our nastiness, or dark side is all comprised in the shadow of our psyches. We may deliberately keep some of these parts well-hidden from society or family and friends.

Without judging our coping mechanisms as good or bad, let’s just take a step back from how you fill your days to how you feel in your days. That is, to listen to that inner dialogue.

How adaptive we are to this protracted stress of the pandemic takes on different emotional shapes and compensatory behaviours.

No matter how small or tragic your experience has been, all of us are living in suspense of the virus and up against uncertainty…