The holidays can be difficult for those who have traumatic experiences attached to this time of year, due to pressure and expectations of how we “should” be celebrating. With the stress and anxiety of the pandemic, and the losses that we have individually and collectively experienced in 2020, many of us feel like grieving instead of celebrating.

Here are some resources from CPAF staff that we use for supporting survivors, our colleagues, and ourselves. We wanted to share them with all of you too:

1. CPAF created this video a couple of years ago to support and let survivors in our lives know that there is no “right” way to mark the holidays.

2. Ask. Listen. Encourage Action. Check In. The RUOK website encourages us to reach out and ask the question, and provides guidance on what to say when the answer is “I’m not.”

3. Many LGBTQ+ people know how to celebrate apart from family because they’ve been forced to for generations. From 19th News, here are ways in which some have found joy during the season with those immediately around them.

4. Resilience is a muscle we can build, and social support can make us more resilient, according to the Greater Good Science Center. Here are ways to find purpose and connection for that social support in a pandemic.

5. The reality for so many disabled people is that they have always had to learn how to live all or most of their lives at home. Here is a conversation from March 2020 between disability justice organizer Mia Mingus and Dr. Connie Wun of AAPI Women Lead about mutual aids, pods, and how we can recommit to support one another.

6. Escape into nature, even when you’re not able to travel. Here are some cool sounds from forests around the world for meditation, relaxation, and wonder.

Please be kind to yourself and others as we all navigate uncertainty and revamp holiday traditions! Whether you are celebrating together (as safely as possible) or separately, with family by blood or family by choice, CPAF wishes you a safe and warm holiday season.

Thank you to everyone who has made a year-end donation to support CPAF. If you want to make a donation, it’s not too late! To make a one-time or recurring donation to CPAF, please click here. Thank you!