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Last Updated: Nov 14, 2008 - 7:07:15 PM |
After visiting for a few hours in Bensley on Saturday, Linda and I headed downtown to what I imagine is Richmond’s biggest event of the year. The Richmond Folk Festival drew a reported 175,000 people last year. We attended the National Folk Festival there last October and wanted to check it out again.
Our timing was a little off. By the time we got there, we were able to get a quick bite to eat and then head off to hear some music. On just about every stage we visited, the group was playing its last song. Still, with some seven stages, we heard plenty of music.
The folk festival offers a plethora of different types of music from all over the world. It’s not only great music, but is also educational, giving festival-goers a sample of music styles they may not hear otherwise. And it was free.
I think this year’s event was special in some way. People were able to get out from under economic concerns, reports on the crash, and worrying about their 401K. As times get tough, it’s important to have opportunities to relax and get our head into something else. And what’s better than some good music.
These times can be more stressful than we realize. I once read how during tough economic times, there are more UFO sightings, more cults that develop, strange medical cures, reports of psychic phenomenon and even a rise in charismatic spiritual leaders.
As the stress of our economic situation sets in, we seem to search out ways to ease our own mind. Money has been the great sedative over the last twenty years. But as our pocketbooks are challenged, and our very future in doubt, our situation and frame of mind is changing.
According to the American Psychology Association, “When asked about the recent financial crisis, almost half of all adults say that they are increasingly stressed about their ability to provide for their family’s basic needs. At the same time, eight out of 10 adults said that the economy is a significant cause of stress, up from 66 percent in April. Compared to men, women are most likely to report unhealthy behaviors to manage stress like eating poorly (56 versus 40 percent), shopping (25 versus 11 percent), or napping (43 versus 32 percent), as well as to report physical symptoms of stress like fatigue (57 percent compared to 49 percent), irritability (65 percent compared to 55 percent), headaches (56 percent compared to 36 percent), and feeling depressed or sad (56 percent compared to 39 percent).”
Psychotherapist Michael J. Formica writes in Psychology Today that “People are afraid, and some of them will say it out loud. What I am beginning to witness, and why I bring this up, is that the fear the current economic condition is generating is coming out sideways.
“I have seen a drastic increase in aberrant social behavior – addictions of all sorts surfacing and re-surfacing, court-involved domestic violence, child abuse, anger management issues, affairs, divorces, and just general stupidity and acting out – along with the expected spike in depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation.”
It’s so easy to allow the worry to seep in. What’s going to happen to my retirement? Will I be laid off? Just how bad will it get?
“We cannot control the economy. We cannot control the pressures placed on world markets by the exploding middle classes of India and China,” Formica says. “We cannot control the price of oil or the speed with which alternative energy sources become readily available. We are, without doubt, at the sufferance of a juggernaut that we ourselves have created. But all is not lost because we can manage one thing. Us.”
Change is always challenging, but what is life without challenges? Not much fun, right?
Common sense is the basis of Formica’s simple prescription.
“We have a choice, just as we always do,” he says. “We can choose to manage ourselves in the face of what amounts to a global crisis. We can choose to recognize that all things occur in cycles and that, while our current situation may be deeply distressing, it will change. It may not change in exactly the way we expect or would like, but it will change. And change always provides us with an opportunity – it is not an obstacle.”
I found this guy’s writing consoling. It’s something we all know. We really do realize there is nothing we can really do about the economic situation. After all it’s not our fault, individually. There is an overall part we have played in the grand formula that led to our current situation, but now it’s more about just staying calm and watching it play out. We’re not in it alone. Practically everyone I talk to has been affected in some way. We’re all in it together.
As the little people, our hands are tied. We can only hope that the big shots will figure it out and get us on the right track. In the meantime, eliminate some stress through exercise, connecting with nature, and volunteering. It might be helpful to think about others who are having problems right now and not so much about ourselves. What interesting times we are living in. Imagine the stories you will be able to tell. “I was there during the crash of ‘08 and I survived,” you can say. Think about what you will learn. Look for opportunities, keep your chin up, and remember I have dibs on the dry spot under the I-95 overpass.
mfausz@villagepublishing.com | 751-0421
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