COVID-19 update, from our hearts

A bowl full of slips of paper with words printed on them. Some words have spilled out on the wooden table.

Hello Beautiful human!

This is a note to let you know where we’re at with studio plans and hopes, as we watch the unfolding news about COVID-19.

First of all, some guiding principles.

Since I’m all about values, I spent a good part of today working to articulate how I wanted us all to move forward as a team. If you’re not interested in the heart-stuff, you can skip this part! But if you’re tired of those all-business statements, let’s start here.

1. I want us to hold our responsibility to the bigger picture of this moment, recognizing that as a community gathering place, we have a role to play in community health.

2. I want us to bring kindness and compassion the whole client experience, including the communal heightened anxiety of this time.

3. I want us to be caring towards each other as a team, to honour each other’s needs and voices, and to recognize that when we're afraid, it's easier to judge or separate.

4. I want us to make mindful, thoughtful decisions, not based in panic, but in a realistic and open-eyed view of the situation as it unfolds.

5. I want us to protect our own safety — physical as well as emotional.

6. I want us to keep looking for new, fresh, no-germ ways to be of service, to spread kindness, and to help people connect to their voices and each other. (More on that below.)

Now, what does that mean?

We won’t be gathering people at the studio for the next 2 weeks. If you’re currently in a class or have a studio membership, you’ll hear from your facilitator soon. Some classes will move online, some will be cancelled or rescheduled. Each one has special considerations, which we’re talking through.

As of now, we’re not making decisions about anything in April or beyond; we’re planning in 2-week intervals. We will keep everyone up to date as soon as new developments arise.

If you’re currently doing a coaching package and you have a meeting with you coach in the next 2 weeks, your coach will reach out about meeting on the phone or through video conferencing.

We won’t be opening registration for summer workshops or retreats until we have more information.

Here’s how we’re working to be of service through this time…

What scares me personally about all this is the idea of human connection getting thinned. When we protect, we pull away, and of course Firefly is about the opposite of pulling away. We need each other more than ever.

And so, we’re looking for new ways to help you stay grounded in community, in your voice, in your truth, without risk to your health. Here are some ways:

• I’ve started a new series of free video writing prompts, aiming to bring some grace and understanding to this challenging global moment.

• We’re exploring using video conferencing systems to add some short, low-cost online writing workshops this spring, especially for people who are isolated at home.

• We’re giving away 10 extra memberships to “Hello Writer” this month for folks who have to self-isolate and don’t have disposable income. Email Lesley to apply, or check out the program here.

• We made room for a few more one-on-one coaching clients. If this is the time to start/finish that big project, we have your back, and we can do it all over phone or video conferencing.

• I’ll be updating our “Poem of the Moment” with uplifting poems way more regularly than usual, and taking your suggestions if you have any great ones! Here is the latest.

As always, we’re open to your ideas. How can we be of service in this time? What kind of Firefly do you need and want?

Thank you, beautiful humans. Everything changes, everything moves, this will end, and we’ll still be here with you in the messy creative tangle of living.

In it with you,