And suddenly the world stopped ...

And suddenly the world stopped. The invisible enemy came with everything and made millions of people around the planet stay at home. With whom? With you, with your internal noise, with the noise of others ... For some, isolation. For others, the intensification of family life, whatever the configuration. And each configuration brings different challenges ...

For those who live alone, the lack of social life can be harder, and loneliness can take over; on the other hand, they may be those who have the most time and availability to connect with those who are far away through the many means of virtual communication that are available today. For couples without children, the attention that was previously divided between the many activities of day-to-day, now turns all (or almost all) to socializing, to the relationship. If on the one hand conflicts can surface, on the other hand the intensity of contact can increase closeness and allow the relationship to flourish.

Families with young children, who until then had the support of nannies, grandparents, school, now need to organize the routine and handle all the demands of the little ones, while concerns related to work and finances are still present, and perhaps even more stressful. Expectations of home productivity and manuals of what to do while staying with children inside the house for so long, permeate the reality at this time of great stress for mothers and fathers.

Families with teenagers may follow a different rhythm ... They who already have such intimacy with the virtual world get involved with online classes (which may still be new for many!), many demands, themes, jobs. The hassle of confinement is hidden behind so many tasks, but that is not the reason why there is no difficulty in “maintaining a routine”. It looks like it stopped, but it didn't.

And the older generations ... Perhaps those who suffer the most. And not just because of the threat of the virus. Many who do not live with their children and grandchildren, who no longer have a spouse at their side to share the day, to receive support. Although many are connected and enjoying the benefits of communications technology, others find it more difficult to access them, and end up feeling “abandoned” by those who fail to see them in order to protect them.

Anyway, we are experiencing a crisis. In the Systemic Theory of Family Relations, crisis is an opportunity. To grow, to change, to reinvent itself. Being in confinement can bring up feelings of loneliness, anguish, of not knowing. But it can also reveal partnership relationships, revive the desire to feel belonging, whether in family meals that are now more viable, in whatsapp groups of friends, at work, in virtual meetings.

So, we want to invite you. An invitation to open. Openness to experience the moment we are living and to welcome everything it brings, good and not so good. An invitation to reconnect. With myself, with people, with wanting to do instead of having to do. An invitation to use your free time more wisely and with less productivity.

During this period, the Nucleo Sys (Systemic Nucleus of CEFI) will share some reflections here in order to contribute to this moment to transform it into an opportunity for self-knowledge and relational learning.

Ana Carolina Peixoto Moraes

Márcia Martins Pozzobon