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Channel: Co-Op Web: Social Media Marketing Managers for Business

COVID-19 Is Changing Us

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By Ana Lewis

Throughout our world, COVID-19 has planted its big footprint on us. Some of us have been  squashed to a pulp and suffered death and destruction in our families, some of us have lost our businesses and ways of making a living, and some of us have mourned the loss of seeing our loved ones and traveling. No matter who you are in the United States, COVID19 has been a brutal force to reckon with.

And yes, Co-Op Web has been suffering some of COVID’s flames of destruction. Some of our staff and/or their family members have endured the infection first hand. Some of have had scary close calls. All of us have felt the impact on our business.

What the Future Holds

I am here to tell you, I don’t know what the future of Co-Op Web is going to be. On October 1, 2020, we celebrated 22 years in business. We are a healthy organization with tons of talent, but we have chosen to be B2B, and with so many businesses suffering the same circumstances we are, this has been a huge challenge.

No Matter What

I am actually okay with whatever comes about. Maybe this whole thing is the reset button we didn’t know we needed.  Maybe it’s time for me to hang up my business hat and join the ranks of retirement. Maybe it’s simply time for a little rest to wait and see what happens. I know we are all okay, no matter what.

Coping Strategies

What are you doing to get through this COVID storm? Do you have any sage words of advice? I would love to hear them.

Here’s what I have been doing during this transitional time:

  1. Lots and lots of sewing. It helps me clear my head and at the same time make stuff that is useful. Some days it’s masks, and other days, it’s a whole quilt. Hazel (my sewing machine’s name) has been a hard-working girl this year.
  2. Planting a cutting garden. Typically I plant herbs or vegetables. This year I decided to plant beauty. My cutting garden makes me smile every time I look at it. Priceless.
  3. Plotting how I will vote – safely and as early as possible. One of my closest friends bought me a hat that says, “VOTE bitches” and I wear it with pride.
  4. Watercolor painting. Something kinda-sorta new for me. Very therapeutic to learn something new.
  5. Occasionally letting non-profits know that we are available for work. I’ve been very selective about my choices, because it’s important that anything new that we take on will give us a sense of purpose, while making sure that we continue to build social good with social media.
  6. Expressing gratitude every day for all of the little things, like the work we still do have, for example, or simply being able to wake up in our own beds. I saw an idea for a Gratitude Pumpkin and that sounds like a brilliant idea to help keep things in perspective.
  7. FaceTime with friends, family and grandkids. I know this is last on my list, but my goodness, it’s the best thing of all. I always get off the phone with a smile on my face.

This is a Time Like No Other

I wish all of you the time and healing that you need to get through this time in our lives. This is a time like no other. We have endured a pandemic together, for goodness sake! Our connection from that will endure any hardships we go through. May we all come out of this with more clarity and a better sense of community than ever.

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The Freedom to Vote

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Chicago artist Mac Blackout’s new mural encouraging Americans to get out and vote in the upcoming election. Photo by Jennifer Griffin

 

By Abigail Edwards

With Election Day right around the corner, heated debates and differing opinions flung back and forth across the states can make it difficult to keep in mind that voting is a civic privilege as well as a duty. It isn’t something we should approach with flippancy or entitlement. For many of us, it was a right hard won over the course of centuries.

Originally, the U.S. Constitution allowed its states to decide individually who was qualified to vote. As states began joining the union, they created their own legislatures outlining the rules. White men twenty-one years or older were the only ones who had a say, and even with those qualifications they could be disregarded if they didn’t own any land.

The 15th Amendment was adopted into the US Constitution in 1870 granting African-American men the right to vote. Southern states used poll taxes, literacy tests, intimidation and fraud to prevent that right from being exercised. It would take nearly a century for it to be put into practice with the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Women, meanwhile, struggled to make their voices heard. Women’s suffrage had to claw their voter rights from the hands of one state at a time. Strategies varied from challenges in court and picketing to silent vigils and hunger strikes. For their efforts, they found themselves harassed, jailed, and physically abused. Though the 19th Amendment was first introduced in 1878, the fight to ratify it continued until 1920.

Click here to see an interactive timeline of who got the right to vote when.

With such a checkered history and so many battles fought to secure this right, voting ought to be considered sacrosanct. This is proof of your independence: you act equipped with your wisdom, your values, and your ballot. It’s imperative, then, not to let the badgering, squabbling and demands of others sway us. Vote with your own moral standing, not one that others thrust upon you. Become informed; know what you believe.

The post The Freedom to Vote appeared first on Co-Op Web: Social Media Marketing Managers for Business.

Handle With Care: Being Kind to Ourselves

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By MJ Ali

PAST…

We all get stuck. We keep going over past events in our minds. We keep looking back.

This is normal.

It’s also something we can change.

We can’t change the past, no matter how hard we concentrate, or how many times we go over an action we regret or a wrong done to us. It’s just not going to happen.

We can practice letting go, forgiving, learning from past experiences.

And you know what?

“Practice makes possible.”

FUTURE…

We all worry about the future. Especially when life is filled with uncertainty, it’s a familiar place. We can tie up our entire sense of well being in this worry, and it can eat us alive.

We can change this, too.

We can’t predict the future. Worrying about it robs us of the present, and the worrying changes nothing other than our blood pressure and anxiety level.

We can practice taking a break from this worry. Realizing we can’t control everything allows us to turn our attention to what we can control. And we do control our reactions, our mindset, our outlook.

And it takes a lot of practice. But again, “Practice makes possible.”

PRESENCE…

We all have the ability to take a deep breath…

…to stop, to look around

…to notice how our life’s work is mapped on our hands

…to smile at children playing, and even join in

…to give our animals massages – and, if we’re lucky, other humans with whom we’re allowed to be physically close

…to listen to our bodies, our hearts

…to appreciate what we see, hear, smell, taste, touch, sense

…to be still, even for a moment, and be absolutely present.

We can allow ourselves to daydream, to imagine what we wish for ourselves, our friends and family, our neighbors, our planet.

We can imagine a future.

The possibilities are limitless.

And you know what else?

The power of our minds is limitless.

Our minds
Our hearts
Our imagination
Our empathy
Our flexibility

It’s all limitless.

What will you unlock, set free, forgive, imagine today?

Tomorrow?

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