This limited-time group explores the concept of preparedness. It moves from discussions of practical considerations, like being ready for fires and earthquakes, to more existential ones, like being ready for the death of a parent, a pet, or even oneself. Through trauma-informed conversations around grief, loss, and traumatic reactions to intense experiences, we will create a space of community and holding for some of life’s biggest, scariest questions, and hopefully emerge feeling more ready to move forward with courage and enthusiasm in our uncertain and changing world.

Week 1: What does it mean to be prepared? — What are you prepared for? What aren’t you prepared for?

• Meet each other, and explore what preparedness means to us, and how we have prepared for our lives thus far, and the times when we may have been caught unprepared.

• Discuss hopes for the group, and what we hope to take away.

Week 2: What do we do when disaster strikes? — Practical considerations to be ready for the worst, and how to stay calm in the storm.

• Discuss disaster preparedness, and begin thinking about what to keep in mind. *

• Talk about ways to regulate yourself in crisis situations, and how to ease anticipatory anxiety.

  *This is to create a framework of what to be thinking about — and what you might not have thought of — when making a preparedness plan for yourself. It is not meant to be comprehensive, and during the group, I will provide recommendations for organizations that offer further, in-depth, high-quality training.

Week 3: What do we do when we lose the unthinkable? — Navigating experiences of grief and loss. Can you really prepare for it? How do you move forward?

• Talk about experiences of loss and how we have each found our way to navigating these rough and uncertain waters.

• Discuss how to find an ongoing connection with what we’ve lost.

• Explore possibilities of preparing for things that feel impossible to prepare for, and how we might use this to live with more presence and gratitude in daily life.

Week 4: How do we prepare for the end? — Reckoning with our own death, from the logistical to the spiritual

• Share feelings about mortality, and creative ways to communicate and illustrate these complex feelings and experiences.

• Discuss practical aspects of our dying, and what we may want to leave behind.

• Explore existential and spiritual themes and how this connects to our views about death, while keeping an open mind to the great mystery, and to each other’s perspectives.

Week 5: How do we say goodbye for now? — What do we want to carry forward? How do we stay connected?

• Process feelings around the ending of our time together, and what has been meaningful.

• Reflect on and review the ideas and themes of our group, and how we want to carry these lessons into the future.

• Create ways to stay connected and to find community around these topics, recognizing that fostering connectedness and helping each other are ultimately the best ways we can prepare for just about anything.

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This group meets virtually, and each meeting will be 75 minutes long. The starting date will be determined based on the availability of interested group members. Attendance at all five meetings is strongly encouraged.

The fee for the group starts at 55 dollars per meeting, but some sliding scale slots are available.