Town Talk: Mental Health America of Fredericksburg
Jordan Alpert, acting Executive Director and Dianna Flett, Board President, discuss the work of Mental Health America of Fredericksburg in these COVID times. We talk about changes and the way forward.
How Are You Feeling These Days?
We hope that telling our stories will help strengthen our community and give hope to others in similar situations.
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I’ve been feeling disoriented lately. As an introvert, I haven’t found the pandemic as difficult as many people. I am fine being by myself, especially in these cold winter months. Sitting in front of a fire with a hot drink is particularly comforting.
But I am restless, and my anxiety seems worse than usual. I’m beginning to miss my small group gatherings, I am desperate to hug my grandchildren, and I can’t wait to actually walk into a store and go shopping without racing in and out. We’ve been isolating as much as possible— safe but difficult.
I know I am not alone. Even if you’ve continued to work or shop, you may still be feeling the anxiety that comes with this lack of control. Humans are comforted by feeling in control of their lives, and we’re frustrated by the uncertainty these days. Several articles have referred to the term “hitting the pandemic wall” to describe the feeling many of us are experiencing.
What can help? When I see the words “just breathe,” my first thought is “oh, sure.” But I have found that in the moment I CAN stop my heart from racing or my mind from going to those dark places. The best technique for me is to inhale (into your diaphragm, otherwise it can actually increase anxiety), count to three and hold, and then release. Two or three breaths, and I feel better.
Another way I cope is to try to stick to a schedule. My husband and I started walking twice a day, and though I miss on occasion, the routine brings some stability to my life.
Finally, I look for a way to do something kind for others. I might write letters to someone in a senior living facility. They’ve been isolated more than any of us, and receiving a note with kind message might make their day. Baking cookies for first responders is always appreciated and will probably help you feel better, too.
If you’ve tried these things and can’t get beyond the “pandemic wall,” or if you can’t get yourself to try. new strategies, Mental Health America of Fredericksburg has resources available, so please contact us if you need help.
Remember, we are seeing the light. While distribution may seem slow, the vaccines are here. Soon, we will be out and around. But I’ve stopped saying “back to normal.” Learning to cope, accept, and deal with this pandemic will help us build strength and resilience for whatever we face in the future.
“Our new normal is always feeling a little off balance, like trying to stand in a dinghy on rough seas, and not knowing when the storm will pass.” @tarahaelle
But knowing we are not alone matters.
Print Jazz is All About That
If you play chess (or even checkers), you’ll understand artist Pete Morelewicz’s game plan for his art.
“Creating art is a feedback loop,” he said. “I make a move and then the art tells me where to go next.”
Pete is one of many artists who have chosen to support Mental Health America of Fredericksburg with his vibrant art, which enables the organization to continue its programs for the community. He creates pieces with strong graphic geometries. Using bright, solid color fields, he depicts various buildings and landscapes around Fredericksburg such as Carl’s or Kenmore. You’ve seen them on a canvas at LibertyTown, in the window at The Visitor’s Center, and on magnets and notecards around town.
He starts with a pencil sketch, leaving space to adjust. He said he was once given good advice: “When you go from your sketch to your final, be sure to leave room for the jazz.” He liked that concept so much that he uses “jazz” as a design pseudonym: Print Jazz.
Pete’s connection to MHA-fxbg began when he started volunteering in the Senior Visitor program. Through that, he discovered the other services, including the provider resources, which he has shared with others often.
“There’s still a stigma around getting treatment for mental health issues, and the more that we can acknowledge and publicize those who are here to help, the better off we’ll be.”
Pete finds deep satisfaction in seeing his art bring happiness to others. Buying art, he said, speaks to the importance of finding happiness in our everyday lives. He finds great satisfaction in sharing that connection with the buyer.
Pete is donating his latest piece (on display at LibertyTown) to the annual MHA auction. You can also find him on Instagram using the name @PrintJazz or his website.
Like his art, Pete exudes happiness. The community and MHA-fxbg truly benefit from all his fabulous jazz.
To buy a raffle ticket, click here!
Supporting MHAF Through Art
We are delighted to start a new series of stories about the great people who support our organization through donations of art, time, and effort. Our first post tells Elizabeth Seaver’s story!
Elizabeth Seaver enjoys making people smile. Her colorful, whimsical paintings, usually of birds, are created by mixing all her favorite media, acrylic paint, paper and relief printmaking.You can see those smiles as people walk down the hall at LibertyTown Arts and first spot a blue-footed boobie staring at them!
But Elizabeth is also a teacher, one who encourages everyone to be creative. “Every human is fundamentally a creative person, but unique. That means each person who makes, whether working in paint or wood or ink or food or painting or the garden, brings a perspective and style as individual as a fingerprint,” she said.
She believes all art brings something to the world that is meaningful and necessary to our survival and good mental health.
Elizabeth has supported Mental Health America of Fredericksburg for years through donation of her popular paintings. Art may be created individually, but “it can take us to new places in our imagination and remind us of other places and times. It can remove us from moments of stress in our lives enough to bring essential ease.”
MHA-fxbg was there for her daughter, she says. “I am so appreciative that they were available to us. It changed her life and ours.”
Elizabeth believes there are many paths to becoming an artist. She is grateful for a pivotal studio art class at Smith College her senior year. The teacher encouraged her, as he did all his students, the opposite of what she says she hears from many people who have been criticized instead of supported. “They felt belittled and gave up art altogether,” she said.
When she moved with her family to Fredericksburg, she found a thriving community of generous, serious local artists. That’s when she started painting (and also helped found Brush Strokes Gallery). In 2006, Dan Finnegan rented her a studio at LibertyTown Arts Workshop and then hired her from 2008-2011 to be artist in residence. Silly, whimsical characters began to replace the more traditional subjects she had been learning to paint. It took four to five years for her to find her unique subject matter and style. These days, you can find her work at LibertyTown Arts, her website, or on IG: @elizabethseaverart
Elizabeth, recognized across town for her welcoming smile and joy, said she is inspired by being around children.
“You can say the silliest things to them, and they know how to play with it. We can build whole silly universes that way.”
We are grateful Elizabeth (and her birds) have not only supported MHA-fxbg but also our community at large.
Finding joy these days is a good thing.
MHAF is Committed to Anti-Racism
Mental Health America understands that racism undermines mental health. Therefore, we are committed to anti-racism in all that we do. This means that we pledge to work against individual racism, interpersonal racism, and institutional racism in all their forms.