By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
CASSOPOLIS -- In Dowagiac Lifeworks Center psychologist Paul Kitchen's SLICK way to cope with the stressful terrorism era, C for "connected" is the key letter in his acronym.
As he explained to about 25 people Wednesday afternoon at the Edward Lowe Center for the Council on Aging, SLICK stands for:
Safe, not sorry.
Laugh, not lament.
Informed, not obsessed.
Connected
Kitchen said, "We can't change the fact that there are some wackos out there in the world who don't like Americans, or that there are trains loaded with chemicals going through our neighborhoods, or that we live in a place that has tornadoes and snowstorms, so don't worry about it. But you can change how you decide to live your life and get out there and volunteer to help other people and choose to be connected to my neighborhood and choose to have a sense of humor about life.
According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, certain basic needs must be satisfied before other needs can be of concern. "We all need food and water. Until those are met and we're not dying of thirst, we don't need to worry about a roof over our heads," Kitchen said. "Once safety and security are taken care of, then we can begin to worry about our emotional needs. Hopefully, most of us in here have most of our physiological needs taken care of and our safety needs taken care of.
Laughter is a powerful tool in determining whether something is positive or negative and to navigate tough times.
Kitchen said, "We need to know what's going on in the world around us. There are bad people out there and misguided people -- good people who do stupid things. We need to be aware. We should never stick our heads in the sand and say, 'I live in Cass County, I don't have to worry about anything like that,' because we do. Unfortunately, there are bad people in this county and bad people in our neighborhoods.
His question met murmurs of no from his audience.
Neighborhood Watch "needs to be a social thing we do" to nurture connections.
Terrorism or any kind of natural disaster can make people fearful to the point of isolation that breeds vulnerability -- not safety.
There is also spiritual connectedness.
Kitchen stated, "A lot of people have a spiritual component. A religious aspect is an important part of life. If you have religious involvement, there is incredible power and peace that comes through prayer. If you connect with God, none of this stuff is taking God by surprise. However you perceive Him, whatever your religion is, it doesn't matter. What matters is that you use that resource to draw strength and connect. If you learn nothing else today, do this one," he said, jabbing at connection.