Ann Douglas spent time with the Erin Mills Connects community on Zoom in November, just weeks after finishing a new book, for and about women at midlife. This new book, which is scheduled to be published in 2022, will add to her impressive list of publications including Happy Parents Happy Kids and Parenting Through the Storm.

As part of her research, Ann conducted more than 100 in-depth interviews with midlife women, many who spoke about the challenges of handling caregiver roles along with other responsibilities. She also noted the general change in the spirit of support for careworkers since the pandemic started 20 months ago– moving from cheering health care workers to protests at hospitals.

Three Questions to Ask Yourself

Despite this, she said that the pandemic gave her a huge opportunity to learn more about herself and her hopes for a better, more just world. She then invited Community Check-in participants to share their insights to these three questions:

1. What have you learned about yourself?
2. What are the moments when you felt your greatest sense of meaning, connection, and joy during the pandemic, and what can you do you get more of those moments?
3. What do you want for yourself, your family and your community moving forward?

We encourage you to watch the video of Ann in discussion with Miguel Martinez, president of coaching company MTClife. Take note of your own answers to the questions and remember them in the days ahead.

collaboratives community action connecting COVID-19 Post-pandemic