Good morning, peeps. I’m getting ready to get to work here, but thought I’d take a few moments to post a quick blogs. Apple is here, curling in my arms as I type. Over the years I’ve gotten to be pretty adept at typing around cats, and given Apple needs his blanket or he gets distressed, I’ve learned how to juggle the keyboard as well as a cat.
I’ve started working with a writing/life coach, and so far, it’s been helpful in terms regaining my focus. I’ve been thinking a lot about how we’re living in a history-making time. I’m not talking just ‘regular events’ but this pandemic will go down in the history books. None of us know how this will pan out. My assistant Andria mentioned the other day that it feels like the prologue in a post-apocalyptic novel, and to some degree, I have to agree with her.
The last epic pandemic was in 1918, over one hundred years ago. Science has advanced, but so has the population density, and there are enough people out there who are either unconcerned because they think they’ll remain unaffected, or who are willfully ignorant about the actual facts that I dread seeing what the numbers will look like over the next six months.
But it all boils down to stress, worry, and fear. And during times of stress/worry/fear, we need to find things to hold onto, in order to maintain our balance and equilibrium. We can’t rely on tried-and-true for the most part, given so much of those things mean interacting with others, so I suggest we all create our own comfort-routines that will be there for us.
By that I mean, what gives you comfort and boosts your health and well-being? For me, it’s become a long shower at night (in our delightful new shower), softly singing magickal chants as I clear away the cloud of stress from the day under the warm water. It’s going back to my morning routine where I meditate first, and don’t even touch social media until I’m done with my work for the day. It’s comfort-watch re-runs, playing and cuddling with the cats, it’s finding food I like that won’t tear down my health—and a few treats in between. It’s focusing on what I can do, what I do like (like putting on makeup almost daily), and trying to keep up a ‘normal’ routine as much as possible. These little anchors help ground and center us in our daily lives.
It’s also important to be gentle with ourselves. It’s not a good time to focus on where we are lacking, but to boost our strengths, to remember to be kind, to be courteous and fair. There are a lot of angry people out there—and some have a good deal to be angry about, some of that anger is more than justified. But focusing on anger alone isn’t going to help. Focusing all your energy into negative channels will only make things seem more overwhelming. So I guess what I’m saying is sprinkle in an attempt to be empathetic. Remember, we truly are in this together. What I do, what others do, it all affects the world. You aren’t wearing that mask to protect yourself, but to protect others. And we’re wearing our masks to protect you.
What are you doing in this pandemic to try to retain an even keel? What coping mechanisms are you using?
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I’m doing word search puzzles, dot-to-dot books, reading & watching a lot of NatGeo Wild & Animal Planet.
Personally I have been reading a lot more. Sewing, crocheting, cuddling with my dog. I have been working some overtime included. I try to find the positive things in each day.
Looking for the positive is important. It helps keep us going.
For me, I’m still crocheting as a coping mechanism. It’s so mindless for me that I can just do multiple things without losing focus while also relax. It’s helped, especially recently with losing my mom’s dog three weeks ago to a sudden downturn we hadn’t expected. I’ve also taken to watching anime while I eat dinner, which I stopped doing for a while. It has helped a lot as well, plus I’m getting through the backlog, which can be stressful. The final thing I’ve taken to doing is my cousin and I talk on the phone every Thursday now. We’ve both found it helps us to just have someone to bitch at, or talk completely random stuff, over the people we’re always around. So yeah, those are my coping mechanisms.
Yeah, my BFF and my niece and I group text daily. And my workout partner and I talk on the phone at least once a week and we text a lot. It’s important to have those connections even when they can’t be face-to-face.
I’ve given myself a Facebook vacation, and am not sure when I will go back.
I want to spend some time educating myself about current issues–without the hyperbole of the media breathing its halitosis up my nose.
With this break, I will continue my small practice of rest each afternoon. Putting my feet up is necessary, and also peaceful.
We have been going on this Stay at Home thing for long enough that I start to think that it’s about time to get moving again. And then I remember that while the period may be long, it’s not substantively different than it was at the beginning. We still don’t know what is going to happen over time. The future looks uncertain because it is.
Since I have been retired (2016), I have basically been staying home most of the time. Last year I did go visit my friend in Chattanooga a couple times, and did go to a Con, Not much has changed this year. I read books, read and order books on the computer, work on small projects on the computer, and sometimes, even clean a little (live alone). I call my friend in Chattanooga at least once a day (sometimes more) and talk to the young (black) man I have hired since he was 8 to do my yard and carry in Heavy groceries, when he comes to do the yard and/or carry in. He is 25 on Friday. I give him lots of advice (which he sometimes does) and tease him a lot about smoking (trying to quit?) or getting a beer. He even sometimes wears a mask. And the one time a cop tried to harass him in MY yard, I backed him up. The look on the cop’s face when this little old white woman says he was working for me! But otherwise, I do not stress about the pandemic (get mad about no mask people, but not stressed), politics, etc. Drink my tea or diet coke, and read another book and pet at least one of my 7 inside cats. The internet said if you read books you will live longer. If you have cats you will live longer—I have the best of both worlds.
One of the few pleasures of living in this divisive political climate is when little old white women like us can stand up for minorities and surprise people. Masks with a printed message are the perfect way to protect and educate the public at the same time.
If books and cats really do extend our lifespans, we will have many more years to make racists angry. And hopefully, we will help to eliminate prejudice and hatred in the process. After all, isn’t everyone a minority in some way, whether we are a Democrat in a Republican town or a Pagan in a Christian family?