Art, Love and Support How One Family has adjusted to the New Normal

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ART, LOVE & SUPPORT: How one family adjusted to the new normal

By Jecinta Wangui

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, families around the world have been under a lot of stress in adapting to the ‘new normal’ while ensuring that their bond remains strong. Stress and anxiety is known to cause strain among family members which is why finding a healthy means to cope with it is essential. Wondering how your family can stay together during this time and even build a closer bond ? How about painting together? That’s right, art is actually a form of therapy that is centred around the idea that creative expression can allow healing and mental wellbeing of individuals. It helps in exploring emotions, developing self-awareness, coping with stress, boosting self-esteem and improving social skills. Today we will be sharing a story of a family that has been using art to ease the tension of the current times and support each other emotionally. This is the story of the Al Kasem family.

Challenges faced since Lockdown

Due to the global lockdown and cancellation of flights, some members of the Al Kasem family have found themselves stuck in other countries and unable to return home. Farez Al Kasem, the youngest of the three siblings says: ‘‘I have many family members stuck out of the country, one of them being my dad.’’ This has caused nineteen year old Walid Basel Al Kasem, the eldest of the siblings to step up and fill the role as the ‘man of the house’. He explains that this has been one of the major challenges that he’s faced during the lockdown: ‘‘Dealing with our father in another country while trying to always keep in touch and handling everything at home has been quite difficult’’. The first year university student luckily returned back home to the UAE from the US before the cancellation of flights. Besides handling things at home, he was also faced with the challenge of submitting his examinations: ‘‘My university hasn’t been much of a problem. It’s just with my exams which I really need to focus on’’, he adds.

Speaking of online schooling and the difficulties that young minds have faced due to quarantine, handling the workload has been stressful to a lot of students. Amani Basel Al Kasem, 15 year old student at Collegiate American School states that ‘‘My school work has been difficult to adapt to as it feels like there’s more work to be done compared to normal schooling. Our homework is combined with classwork, which adds to the workload.’’ A lot of students have had to adapt to e-learning and the transition hasn’t been easy for most.

Walid Al Kasem

Apart from online schooling and being separated from family members, the Al Kasem siblings have also had to give up their regular hobbies. Walid is a fitness lover and enjoys working out at the gym, which is an activity he has had to put on pause for a while. He mentions that working out acts as a ‘stress reliever’, however the current situation has forced him to find other means to cope. As for Farez, the young man loves playing football with his team. He says ‘‘My main hobby is football and it’s really sad that I can’t go and play with my team.’’ Amani also had to give up her favourite sport, horse riding, which she says has been difficult for her.

Farez Al Kasem

Unified by Art

Given the challenges that each family member has faced during quarantine, art has been the glue that has brought the family together during this difficult time. Following in the footsteps of her mother, young Amani enjoys painting and has been encouraging her siblings and her best friend to join in. This activity is not only soothing to this young group of talented individuals, but it also acts as a creative outlet where they have been able to express their emotions in a healthy and fun way. Amani says, ‘‘Art has brought my family closer. We spend around 2-6 hours sitting around each other, laughing, talking and listening to music while painting. This happens around 3 times a week.’’ The rest of her family encourages the young painter to pursue her interest in art and she is even considering it as an option to study in university. ‘‘My family has been really supportive in building my interest and they encourage me to paint even more difficult paintings. They also show love towards each of my paintings,’’ Amani explains.

Amani Al Kasem

Apart from art being a form of expression, experts say that painting allows individuals to be mindful, which is another essential element in remaining calm and relieving anxiety. By participating in mindful activities, individuals can take care of their mental health, hence promote their general wellbeing.

Al Kasem Siblilngs

Closing Remarks

Even though the current pandemic has caused a lot of inconvenient situations, the Al Kaseem siblings choose to look at the bright side of things and the lessons they’ve learnt during this time. Walid says ‘‘Our relationship is now stronger than ever. Before quarantine, we wouldn’t see each other as much since everyone was always busy with different schedules.’’ Now the family sticks together and they have grown even more patient towards one another. Amani says that, ‘‘My patience has definitely improved. My family and I are normally not patient people, but the current times have taught us that good things take time.’’ Farez states that the main lesson he’s learned during quarantine is to ‘‘appreciate the little things in life.’’ Amani also gives her final thoughts: ‘‘Sooner or later this (pandemic) will be over. So rather than stressing about the future, focus on the present and appreciate what is here and now’’.