APRIL THEME: Common Humanity
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"Common humanity focuses beyond our relationship with ourselves to our relationships with others and the world. It's about realizing how much we share as fellow humans. If we broaden our compassion for others, we can extend that compassion to include ourselves."
- Jennifer Gerlach, LCSW
What do you believe you have in common with the person sitting closest to you? What about the people down the street? The people in the next city/town over? What about those on the other side of the globe? Today, it can feel so hard to find connection when it feels there is so much that divides us, from varying beliefs to differing values to conflicting understandings of the world.
Recognizing common humanity is not about smoothing over or ignoring these differences, but remembering that we all know what it feels like to be messy and unsure, to experience pain and loss. According to Dr. Kristin Neff, common humanity is a necessary part of self-compassion. We may not experience hardship the same way, but we all struggle. As Dr. Neff says, "Unlike self-pity, which says poor me, self-compassion says poor us." By recognizing the ways we can connect through our common humanity, we can build stronger and more meaningful relationships and be kinder to ourselves and others.
3 Tools to Help Appreciate Our Common Humanity
- Remember that we are not alone. It can sometimes feel easier to see what divides us than what brings us together. However, common humanity is not the absence of difference. Common humanity simply means recognizing that, even with our differences, we are still human and have the capacity to connect with one another.
- Practice self-compassion. As we emphasize here at Courage to Caregivers, we cannot be truly kind to others if we are not also taking care of ourselves. Remind yourself that you are doing the best that you can, and talk to yourself as you would a beloved friend.
- Embrace connections. Focus on what connects us to other people rather than only what makes us different. By building connections based on our common humanity, we can support both ourselves and those around us.
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My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.
-Desmond Tutu
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THEME AFFIRMATIONS
Use affirmations to inspire you or reframe your thoughts
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I recognize the power of connection
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I am patient with myself
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My support networks strengthen me
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Common humanity reminds me I’m never alone
APPS FOR GUIDED MEDITATION
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Meetup - This website allows you to find and create groups in your local area as well as online centered around topics of your interest such as language-learning, hiking, and more.
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Untangle - This app allows you to connect with other people experiencing loss and grief and build community. They also have a range of workshops that relate to wellness and financial planning.
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SAM - This app allows you to track and manage your mental health and offers self-help methods for managing anxiety, sadness, loneliness, and other issues.
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Nextdoor - This app allows you to connect to other people in your neighborhood and learn more about what is happening in your surrounding communities.
PODCASTS
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BOOKS
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When Trees Testify - This book by Beronda L. Montgomery examines the connection between trees and Black American history.
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I Was Alive Here Once - This short story collection offers ghost stories from around the world.
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Python's Kiss - This short story collection by Louise Erdrich addresses a wide range of subjects, from life and death to immigration and nature to family and connection.
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The Young Lords Speak - This book explores the history of the Young Lords community movement in Chicago through their own writings and words.
ARTICLES
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Created in 1992, National Stress Awareness Month exists to educate health professionals and health care organizations on the importance of stress reduction. Stress is "the body’s nonspecific response to any demand – pleasant or unpleasant" (Source). By understanding how we react to stress, we can better manage the challenges that come our way. Below, you can find some of our favorite resources on stress reduction.
Caregiving Specific Resources:
Help Guide provides six tips for relieving stress:
- Recognize when your body or mind is telling you that you are experiencing stress.
- Identify how you respond to stress. Do you experience a "freeze" response? Or do you experience a "fight-or-flight" response?
- Ground yourself using your five senses. What can you look at? Listen to? Smell? Touch? Taste?
- Take inspiration from your environment. Remember what calmed you as a child or observe how other people manage stress. You can also take a break from technology.
- Make quick stress relief a regular practice so that you can easily calm yourself in tense moments.
- Practice stress relief no matter your location. There are ways to slow down and focus on your senses wherever you are.
For more resources on stress reduction, check out Help Guide's articles on stress and listen to the Greater Good Science Center's Happiness Break podcast.
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Join our newest support group - coming in 2026. These groups are focused on all types of grief and loss, including ambiguous loss, a type of grief that arises when a loss is unclear, ongoing, or lacks closure, often leaving us feeling a mix of connection, uncertainty, and unanswered questions. Available at no cost for Cuyahoga County residents thanks to the generosity of an anonymous private Foundation. Fee-for-service outside Cuyahoga County.
Meetings will be held virtually on Zoom. Contact Jenny at Jenny@CourageToCaregivers.org for more information or to be added to our interest list.
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MARCH was Social Work Appreciation Month
We appreciate our Director of Programs Jenny Woodworth, LISW-S in March (and every month!)
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APRIL is Volunteer Appreciation Month
Board and committee members - interns - peer support volunteers - we 💙 YOU!
We acknowledge and appreciate our 49 volunteers who donated 5,424 hours in 2025!
Interested in volunteering for Courage to Caregivers? Reach out - we need your help!
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Our next Question, Persuade, and Refer/QPR Suicide Prevention training is NEXT Thursday
Thursday, April 30 at 7 pm ET!
Please register here to receive the Zoom link! You need only register for ONE two-hour session. Space is limited for each session, so please register only for a time you know you can attend so spaces don't fill up and prevent others from attending.
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May's theme is Growth Mindset. We will be staying curious, examining the ways we think, redefining guilt and shame, and recommitting to our intentions. With micro-goals, it’s easier to take the next right step - as Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said, “A journey of a thousand miles, begins with a single step.” Check out May's Micro-Challenges Calendar here.
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Courage to Caregivers Breathing Practice for May: Kapalabhati Breathing
As we support caregivers to make breathing and meditation a practice, we're pleased to share our Breathing Meditation Facilitator Cathy and her monthly breathing practice how-to videos. You can join us for May's Breathing Practice - with this practice, we will bring warmth and energy to our body to help with motivation. You can watch May's instructional video for Kapalabhati Breathing here, and remember to subscribe to our 2026 Monthly Breathing Practices playlist to stay updated each month. You can also subscribe to our Breathing Meditation playlist, where we have four years of our weekly breathing meditation recordings, and follow along on our Spotify Breathing Meditation playlist.
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The mission of Courage to Caregivers is to empower and equip carers to navigate their journey. We envision a world where healthy carers lead to healthier families and communities. We're in the caregiver burnout prevention business!
©2026 Courage to Caregivers, Inc.
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