ARTWORK: Navita Wijeratne 21.
How to Cope By Rose Dixon-Campbell After living the last few years of my life, there is no doubt in my mind that resilience and coping is a skill. Our strategies are incredibly personal and often will have been refined over many years of turmoil and stress. However, sometimes they won’t always be that deep! Some people’s go-to (mine included) represents an innate instinct we have to protect ourselves. Whether your coping is productive or not, sometimes it’s necessary to indulge, and sometimes it helps to have an outside perspective on how to continue moving through life dealing with stress. Over the past few weeks I’ve sought out a kaleidoscope of people to discuss this with. Listed below you’ll see the names of good friends of mine, uni peers, kids I babysit, and even my grandmother. Interestingly, everyone had something different to say. I realised for everyone I spoke with, their go-to coping
mechanism reflected something very individual to them. Some of us mentioned escapism, while others preferred to tackle things head on. I hope that when you read this, you’ll see one thing that you hadn’t thought of before, and that that thing will help you even just a little the next time you need it. My deepest and sincerest gratitude to all those who spoke with me for this article. Without you insightful coping masters, this piece would not have been possible.
