We need to come out of this changed.
That’s what I have determined as we continue with our new normal of social distancing and home isolation duiring the COVID-19 pandemic.
I honestly feel the entire world needed a good shaking up. Whether you believe in God, the universe, spirit, Mother Nature, I feel like someone, or some thing, picked us all up like a giant snow globe and shook us to our core.
Why it came in the form of a deadly virus we will likely never know, but it definitely got our attention.
The fact is, we all are here right now.
We are all dealing with the changes the best we can.
I have been inspired by the smallest deeds of kindness being shared through the media (mainstream and social).
There’s been the balcony musical interludes across Italy. How encouraging is that!?
Local communities offering help in a variety of ways, from grocery stores opening early for seniors to people doing Facebook Lives to teach us a new craft to some companies offering delayed financial deadlines.
With every uplifting story I feel the giant weight on my chest easing a bit.
I am going old school and back to basics to find ways to self-medicate. (Not that I haven’t slid in a glass of wine or a few as well.)
1. Digging out my favourite music and blasting it often. I am taking a few local drives (still allowed and gas is cheap). It helps to view scenery. There’s freedom in a road trip, even if we can’t really go far. Crank up the tunes and sing along!
2. I can’t stress enough how old-timey comedies can help. My go-to has always been I Love Lucy. Even for a half hour, it gives a respite from reality. Laughter still is the best medicine.
3. Writing. For me, that’s my solution to most problems. Just getting my feelings out on paper eases the burden. I think now is the time for those gratitude journals Oprah suggested so long ago. You write down five things per day that you are grateful for. It can be big things like your health, or small things like your tea was the perfect strength that day. It causes you to focus on the good. You can’t be grateful and worried at the same time.
4. I fight the anxiety by keeping informed. It makes me feel more powerful to have facts and the latest updates. I appreciate the media, both local and global, so much for the consistent and factual information on COVID-19. I can’t imagine the fear if we had nobody giving us the information. Do you have to sort through some of it? Pick and choose your sources? Sure. The media isn’t trying to scare us; it's trying to inform and I am eternally thankful.
5. Keeping busy certainly helps. A friend used to tell me, “You can never be bored unless you are boring.” I do not want to be boring, so I am making lists everyday of things that will fill the time and improve my surroundings. Remember, too, that there are many people who would love to be sent home to be calm, but have to keep working because they are essential service providers. They are exhausted and it doesn’t help to see any of the rest of us whining we have to stay home and do nothing. As long as we are not sick ... no whining allowed.
We don’t know how long this social distancing is going to continue. I’ve decided I want to come out of this thing different, changed and improved.
It doesn’t especially matter to me if that comes in the form of a cleaner closet, a classic movie finally watched (Wizard of Oz, here I come) or a book read, or whether it’s a grander improvement like reaching out to someone else or appreciating what I have and learning to be more appreciative of even the most mundane tasks.
I hope I never again take family dinner for granted. I can’t wait to meet friends at the local coffee shop. That first post-virus vacation is going to be epic! I hope they make more movies about the real superheroes in life; not the caped crusaders, but the masked medical community, grocers, truck drivers. The givers, not the takers.
I want to come out of this changed.
We all will. It just depends in what way.
That is still within our control.
