Recipes for resilience in challenging times - A guide for translators; a contribution

Recipes for Resilience is out now!

Vasiliki Prestidge contributed to writing the Chartered Institute of Linguists’ ‘Recipes for resilience in challenging times - A guide for translators’.

In an industry in which many are self-employed, already working alone and from home, the pandemic only exacerbated existing challenges. During this difficult and increasingly isolating time, the CIOL Translating Division steering group wanted to put together some tips on how they’re adapting to and coping with the present situation in the hope that knowledge shared is knowledge gained.

In the guide you will find individual 'Recipes for Resilience' from the steering group members as well as thoughts on the pandemic, how it has affected them privately and professionally and their coping strategies,

As a Chartered Linguist, and Steering Group Member of the Translating Division, Vasiliki is happy to have been able to contribute her definition of resilience and what helps her:

Resilience, noun: the ability of people or things to recover quickly after something unpleasant, such as shock, injury, etc.

But what if the unpleasant is prolonged? Can we continue measuring resilience taking into consideration only the ability and our speed to recover following the unpleasant experience? 2020 forced me to have several conversations with myself. It made me reassess everything from my daily habits and lifestyle choices, to my work and place of residence. It brought back into focus what’s important: physical and mental health, the basic right to safety and home, meaningful work, and deeper human connections. In a state of painful, yet blissful awareness, I’ve come to grow my gratitude for having all of the above, while at the same time, accepting that, on certain days, it’s OK not to feel grateful. To recognise that all feelings are valid and to hold space for them. With morning meditation and gentle yoga movements, to running 15k around Royal Parks, jumping on endless Zoom, Skype, FaceTime, and Webex calls, delivering thousands of words every month, and sitting still for 5 minutes, listening to my heartbeat, breathing deeply, walking by the river, observing the leaves, the waves, the clouds, I’ve come to the conclusion that resilience is acceptance. Resilience is knowing your limitations, listening to your body, paying attention to your thoughts. Resilience is setting work boundaries and respecting them. Resilience is dancing in the kitchen, listening to music, keeping the radio on for company, and playing a sleep story at night. Resilience is going to bed early. It is not about bouncing back or the admirable speed in which you do so. It is about identifying what forced you to become resilient in the first place. The ability of noting all experiences, without labelling them as positive or negative, honouring all your emotions in awareness, understanding them in acceptance, and knowing how to respond to them effectively, that’s what makes you resilient.

The full list of contributors includes Rachel Wingfield, Karine Chevalier-Watts, Natalia Racheyskova, Sandra Fernandes Tavares and Martina Eco, all members of the CIOL Translating Division Steering Group.

Click here to download the full guide and read their contributions (CIOL member only content):

https://www.ciol.org.uk/recipes-for-resilience-0

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Vasiliki is a translator, interpreter, transcreator, blogger, consultant and director of Greek to Me Translations Ltd. She works with English and Greek and specialises in legal, creative, and psychometrics. She is a Chartered Linguist, member of CIoL, ITI and PEM and she is registered with the Greek Consulate as a certified translator and interpreter. She holds a BA in English and Masters in Business Translation and Interpreting. She is a Steering Group Member of the CIOL Translating Division and CIOL Business, Professions and Government Division. She is an Associate Lecturer in Legal Translation at London Metropolitan University, a public speaker and writer for industry magazines. Her mission is to help you achieve your goals through the power of words. You can follow her on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.