Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Val Walker MS
Source: Karolina Grabowska/Pexels In times of uncertainty, we hope for good news while bracing for the worst. Living through the frustration and stress of waiting in limbo can mean putting social engagements on hold or avoiding communication because we don’t know what to tell others around us.
Making Promises We Can Keep, Even in Uncertain Times
Source: Pexels, Mikhail Nilov It’s the new year—when we dare to make our resolutions, set our intentions, and declare our affirmations. We’re blasting out of 2021, determined to do our best, despite Omicron, inflation, supply chain delays, staff shortages, and ever-widening political and socio-economic divisions. We’ve survived more than our share of curveballs, delays, cancellations, no-shows, and COVID-related impacts on our commitments.
Get Back Your Integrity: When You've Been Ghosted, Breadcrumbed, or Played
Source: Pexels, Evelina Zhu Through no fault of our own, too often, the bottom falls out of the commitments we strive to uphold. We’re left holding the bag, disappointed by the lack of commitment or follow-through from those we count on at home and at work. The demands of living in pandemic times could be making us more tentative and noncommittal while our reliance on smartphones allows us to easily back out at the last minute.
What Derails a Conversation: Being Preachy, Pushy, or Presumptuous
I’ve learned the hard way as a helping professional that we can try too hard to help—and our words can backfire. Communicating our point of view with the goal of influencing, persuading, or convincing someone can add to the tension when opinions differ. Most of us have awkwardly realized (the hard way) that being preachy, pushy, or presumptuous just doesn’t work, especially regarding highly charged topics such as vaccinations, racial relations, climate change, cancel culture, and much more.
Are You Being Breadcrumbed?
Being Strung Along By Val Walker MS It's perhaps more damaging than ghosting. Are You Being Zombied? By Theresa E. DiDonato Ph.D. Zombied, breadcrumbed, and "haunted are age-old. Playing Hard to Get By Arash Emamzadeh Investigating playing hard to get and attachment styles. How to Cope With Ghosting By Vinita Mehta Ph.D., Ed.M. Research identifies helpful and unhelpful ways to deal with an abrupt loss
The Damage of Being Breadcrumbed
Source: Pixabay, Pasja It’s likely we’ve heard plaintive tales from our brave, exhausted, and breadcrumbed friends: “They told me I was their top candidate for six weeks, but I never got hired.” “He checked in every Friday for two months, but I was never invited to meet in person.” “I thought I’d gotten the contract by the way they lavished praise on me, but it turned out to be a big nothing-burger.” Being strung along by people—breadcrumbing—is on the rise in the domains of dating and...
The Grief of Being Ghosted
When someone we trust suddenly disappears with no contact, it leaves us shocked and dismayed. It can deeply hurt us and discourage us from trusting others or reaching out. Ghosting, according to Merriam Webster, means to “suddenly cut off all contact with someone.” Unfortunately, the disrespectful act of ghosting is on the rise, both in careers as well as relationships.
5 Myths and Realities About Finding Your Tribe
Key Points: You’ll have more success finding connections if you rethink your expectations. An open, honest relationship matters more than finding friends who have a similar background or agree with you on everything. Your tribe may change over time as people come and go from your life—and that’s OK. Source: Cottonbro/Pexels For most of us, “getting out there” and meeting new people is demanding enough. Just saying “I’m finding my tribe” out loud is a bold declaration at any time of life.
Tackling Loneliness: Organizations Providing a Robust Response
In the past few years, well before the COVID-19 pandemic, loneliness became recognized by healthcare providers as a public health crisis in the US and United Kingdom. Organizations sprang up in response to provide research, guidance, resources, services—and hope. The pandemic has galvanized new initiatives and drawn wider audiences to these organizations to address increased social isolation.
Organizations Tackling Loneliness: A Robust Response
Source: Stopsnap, Pixabay In the past five years, well before the COVID-19 pandemic, loneliness became recognized by healthcare providers as a public health crisis in the US and United Kingdom. Organizations sprang up in response to provide research, guidance, resources, services—and hope. The pandemic has galvanized new initiatives and drawn wider audiences to these organizations to address increased social isolation.
10 Common Myths About Lonely People
Source: Pexels, Photo by Cottonbro Loneliness evokes a painful image of someone living alone who has no one to count on. It feels awkward, if not unnerving, to notice the lonely people among us. We often avoid the ones we know who are lonelier than we are, and they hide from us as well. Even during a pandemic when we are socially distanced, we hide our loneliness from others, and sometimes, even from ourselves.
Ten Common Myths about Lonely People
Source: Pexels, photo by Cottonbro Loneliness evokes a painful image of someone living alone who has no one to count on. It feels awkward, if not unnerving, to notice the lonely people among us. We often avoid the ones we know who are lonelier than we are, and they hide it from us as well. Even during a pandemic when we are socially distanced, we hide our loneliness from others, and sometimes, even from ourselves.
Resorting to Psychics in Uncertain Times
Source: Pexels, Danielle Rangel Spurred by a compelling piece in the New York Times this May by Haley Phelan, “Will Coronavirus Kill Astrology?” I jumped on the internet and checked out a few popular tarot readers and astrologers. I wanted to know what they were telling their viewers while the world faced the chaos and uncertainty of the pandemic. I figured business was booming—and I was right. The New York Post reported local psychics were having a bustling summer.
What's Isolating You? A Self-Assessment
Source: Paul Malerba, Pexels Introduction Long before COVID-19 invaded our lives, many of us were living in isolating situations. The pandemic has magnified the effects of isolating forces, such as living alone, having an illness or disability, or being a full-time caregiver. Certainly, the pandemic has revealed how vital our social support networks truly are.
Rediscovering Your Long-lost Connections
Source: Charan Sai, Pexels As the year 2020 has shockingly revealed, a solid sense of connection is crucial to adapting to sudden life changes. In times of crisis and uncertainty, we turn to one another to see what might lie ahead, to think out loud, to solve complex and ever-morphing problems. The pandemic gives us the perfect opportunity to reach out with humility and honesty to seek support as we look for everything from job leads, to resources, to advice, to companionship.
How Sensitive Are You to Social Media?: A Self-Test
Source: Marcus Aurelius Pexels Social media and online platforms have been a saving grace in these isolating times. During the challenges of COVID-19, social media usage has surged with a 61% increase worldwide, according to a study of 25,000 consumers across 30 markets. Live video usage has doubled on Facebook and Instagram. WhatsApp has seen a 40% increase in usage. Twitter has 23% more daily users than last year. TikTok reported a 27% increase during the month of March alone.
The Fear of Not Measuring Up (in Times of Social Distancing)
Source: Polina Zimmerman/Pexels Before the COVID-19 pandemic forced us into social distancing, Americans were already grappling with a loneliness epidemic. The number of Americans with no close friends has tripled since 1985. (National Science Foundation Report, 2014.) Only about half of Americans (53 percent) have meaningful in-person social interactions, such as having an extended conversation with a friend or spending quality time with family, on a daily basis.
I Have Your Back
Source: Min An/Pexels Right now, because many of us are overcome with uncertainty and fear, we are laser-focused on our own needs. Whether we are searching for the last of the toilet paper, fretting over childcare, or dousing the last bit of hand-sanitizer on our hands after pumping gas, many of us are not thinking about others during this global pandemic. And, this is very normal because there is so much to do and so much to cope with.
Breaking Out of Loneliness by Volunteering
Source: pixabay, Anastasiya-Gepp Many of us have heard that volunteering is good for us. It’s been shown to buffer us from depression because it gives us a sense of purpose and engagement (Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 2018).
Are You Judgmental of Lonely People?
Hollywood has entertained us (or creeped us out) with a wide variety of loner-types—ranging from quirky, charming misfits (Wes Anderson's characters) to brilliant but alienated heroes to deadly sociopaths. Unfortunately, loners are more frequently represented as maladjusted individuals with either tragic backgrounds, untreated mental illness, addictions, or personality disorders.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Val Walker
Contact Val Walker, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack