Showing up in little ways and continuing to do this work even when the days are hard is what counts. Comedy through the Chaos is back Saturday at 10am Central.
Shannon: Happy Thursday. I hope that the day is treating you well. As a comedian, I often use humor to help process a bunch of things. This evening I'm going to be touching base with some other friends. We're going to do a little community zoom just to see how things go.
A lot of our job as caregivers is to provide that balance and normalcy. Even in the midst of all that, as caregivers, we specifically still need to make sure that people get fed, meds, get given appointments. Showing up in little ways and continuing to do this work even when the days are hard is what counts.
Comedy through the Chaos is back Saturday at 10am Central. What can you do for yourself when things feel heavier than normal? We encourage you to always pop around. See us all here in the Cadre sphere, particularly on caregiver days.
Deep breath everybody. Hello and welcome to Thursday. If you're joining me live, I am Ms. Shannon. I'm happy to be part of our Cadre sphere. If you wonder who I am other than the blue haired lady who is talking to you right now, I'm a comedian, a corporate speaker, a voice actor, an event MC and a benefit auctioneer by trade. A variety of word related things. I am also the proud mother of an adorable 17 year old kiddo who happens to be high supports on the autism spectrum and he is my heart and I am his voice and I'm happy to hang out with him.
Hello Laura, good to see you. Happy Thursday. Glad to see you in the chat. I hope that the day is treating you well. If it is not, shame on it. Not shame on you. And I live in a little land called the comedy through the chaos, which is very intentional because I am, as a comedian, I often use humor to help process a bunch of things. But I do not expect us to find a lot of laughter in the middle of things. That's not why it's not comedy the chaos, it's comedy through. But I do think that comedy can help us navigate through a number of these things.
And that's something that I have done for quite some time, both as a human being and also as a professional human being. So today I'm always happy to be able to share time with you. I happen to be I hub out of the great state of Minnesota and I am Minneapolis adjacent. So if you've been familiar with the news, it has been a very heavy time period for us here in the Twin Cities. And so what I've spent part of this today doing is this morning I checked in with some friends to make sure that we were all okay.
So it was good to do a touch base. I'm very fortunate that I get to touch base with you right now and check in and see how we can all do here in the Cadre sphere. And then this evening I'm going to be touching base with some other friends. We're going to do a little community zoom just to kind of see how things go. And I think that that's very important for us right now is to be able to continue to build community and figure out how we change and exchange information. And for me personally, what I thought I would discuss with you today was the concept of being a caregiver when nothing feels normal.
Because a lot of our job as caregivers is to provide that balance and normalcy and do all of the things that we need to do to keep. Keep things running as smoothly as possible and trying to keep that as something that's important. And when we're in a situation like this, I know that, at least for me, it is very difficult to stay in the midst of all of these things when all this chaos is happening and there's lots of things that are going on. But even in the midst of all that, as caregivers, we specifically still need to make sure that people get fed, meds, get given appointments, still exist, you know, and life still has to keep happening, you know, for us.
It's still asking us to show up as caregivers. And I understand how difficult that is. I remember thinking sitting around last night and doom scrolling and trying to catch myself and go, all right, you've doom scrolled long enough. All of these emotions are valid, but you still have to figure out what you're gonna do tomorrow. Cause it's a Thursday and you gotta get your kid off to school. School. We are not in the part of town where they cancel schools for today. So I always think it's easy. Interesting that as caregivers we don't have that button that says, hey, life is heavy right now.
I need you to pause. We still have to keep going. And I think that's interesting because we are still required as human beings to carry all of the things that are happening right now. And on the other hand, we also need to continue to be that stability and carry that responsibility of keeping someone safe and helping them stay regulated and make sure that they are supported. So hopefully we can figure out how to make sure that we are supported as well, which isn't something we're always great at.
I think that if you're in the position of a caregiver, oftentimes you're that person that always steps up and takes care of everybody else. But we have to make sure that we are still cared for, that we are still helped to regulate, that we are still fed, that we are still supported, and that we still know that we are loved because we are. And so I wanted to talk to you today because this conversation isn't about fixing any of these things as far as I'm concerned. It's more about just naming the situation that we're in right now.
I think it's more about acknowledging that doing these ordinary things does feel extraordinary some days and that putting ourselves in this position isn't always easy. But showing up in little ways and continuing to do this work even when the days are hard is what counts. And doing just a Little bit. Some days just to go, well, this is all I've got today. This is what I have. I'm proud of myself because this morning, even though we were a little bit behind in getting to school, that was because my kiddo decided, without much prompting for me, that he wanted to take a shower this morning.
And you know what? I'm for that. That's good. I'm glad that you did that. That's something I, you know, that he was adding into his autonomy. It was something that I suggest on lots of days. And the answer is no, mom, that idea is stupid. So the fact that today he brought it up on his own, I'm proud of him. And I count that as showing up. And he was extra clean and moisturized and went to school and looked cool, and I like that. And so that's what I think that some days it looks like for us to continue to care for the people that we take care of, it's continuing that one little thing.
When the ground around us seems very shaky, it's giving ourselves permission to do things a little slower, to also breathe a little deeper. I think that sometimes that requires lowering the bar that we hold for ourselves as caregivers and giving ourselves a little bit more grace to make it through all of these things. So I encourage you to do that for yourselves. If you need to take a deeper breath, if you need to move a little slower, if you need to lower that incredibly high bar you normally make for yourself as a caregiver, it's okay.
You don't have to put it down to limbo level yet. We don't have to scooch under it, but you can move down a little bit. A little bit. A little bit. It's all right there. So a couple of prompts that I would encourage you to think on over the next few days, as the world probably will continue to be chaotic and complex, is, you know, what's that one thing that you can do right now that helps you. What's that? I'm going to say it this way. What's that one thing that you can do right now that helps you keep going, even when the days are heavy?
What's that one thing you can do for yourself right now that helps you keep going, even when the days are heavy? And then I think the next thing that I'm working on right now is what does. What can I do for myself when things feel heavier than normal? A word that I'm loath to use right now. What's normal? But what's something I could do right now when the world feels heavier than normal. One of the things that I did this morning is I decided that I was going to actually fully moisturize my face because I was feeling a little dry and more like a raisin than a grape.
So that is what I did today for myself. So maybe there's something you can do for yourself as well while things are heavy, because I don't get the indication from the universe that things will become less heavy for us right now. So if that's the case, what can we do to preserve some energy so that we can make it through the other side and that we can do what we need to do for the people that we care for as best as possible? So that is what I'm going to work on. I'm going to continue to try and do the things that I know I need to get done.
I'm going to get off of this call with you and set up that call for my friends later this evening. I'm also going to stop by the grocery store because I promised my kiddo that I would get a variety of beverages. That is his favorite thing right now are some beverages of particular, particular varieties. And so I'm going to collect his lemon, his peach and his raspberry teas so that mom is not a liar when I pick him up at school shortly. We encourage you to always pop around. See us all here in the Cadre sphere, particularly here on caregiver days.
If you haven't checked out, my friend Speak Wonder Kathy is great at. I will provide you with some positivity during the chaos, but one of the things I think my friend Kathy Speak Won is great about is providing that calm as you are navigating these waters like, I find her so peaceful, a peacefulness that I aspire to have one moment. I don't think I'll be able to keep it for long, but that a peacefulness. And then our friend Rachel is going to be on here, I believe, at 4pm Central. You want to check that out in the app?
Personally, I will be back here on Saturday at 10am Central for an additional edition of Comedy through the Chaos. And if anything is true, the concept of chaos is something that I think that we probably should continue to get used to. So as I mentioned, I hope that the day treats you well. If it doesn't, shame on it. Not shame on you. Be well, everybody. I'll see you back here on Saturday.
