These words describe how the Coronavirus also known as COVID-19 has me feeling.
I am not going to talk about COVID-19 because (1) I am not a doctor and (2) no one should be getting medical advice from a blog.
However, I am one of about 7 million people in Northern California who have been ordered to “shelter in place” until April 7. I am not so concerned about the sheltering part. I have so many projects and things to do that being “bored” won’t even come into play. Heck, I have televisions in every room in my home so I could watch a different show every hour in 4 different rooms.
What is difficult is the unknown. I am very concerned about this virus, its trajectory and how it will impact all of us for the long term. I believe that self quarantine and social distancing is the right thing to do because the alternative is way scarier.
In the last few days, I’ve been disappointed in myself for not living my best self quarantined life! In my fantasy, I get out of bed, workout, make breakfast, put in a load of laundry, work, do something creative, do household chores making my house spotless and cook healthy delicious meals. In real life, not so much. Since Sunday, I have felt like a slug. Initially, I was beating myself up a bit because my house is a mess, I haven’t worked out for over a week, I’ve done nothing creative, and no laundry. I of course did manage to eat several times a day-mostly crap food.
The other thing that concerned me was that I was not wanting to work on my blog. I love working on my blog, doing projects and showing them on the blog but I was not feeling it.
And then, I shifted. I remembered that we are going through not just a really hard time but also an unprecedented time. I had a nice little talk with myself and told me to be gentle with me. I also had to remind myself that I had spent 3 days happily working on my master bath refresh. I also decided to (1) journal all of the feelings out and (2) come up with a list of things to do that help me feel good about me and also help to relieve stress. Nothing on this list is new or earth shattering. This is what works for me. Find what works for you.
MY LIST
-facial masks
-turn off all of the televisions and listen to a book
-read a physical book
-watch whatever I want for as long as I want
-exercise (I found 1 cardio and 1 yoga video on YouTube and did the cardio one on Wednesday)
-meal prep-I always eat better and feel better when I have some food prepared. I cooked some chicken in the crock pot to use for various recipes. I like doing it this way because I can make all sorts of things and not have to eat the same thing over and over again.
-nail care-I have been terribly unhappy with the state of my finger nails because I don’t take good care of them at all.
-take everyday one hour at a time. Remember that no one has this figured out so I don’t have to either.
What Now
Who knows? But next week, I will return with my regularly scheduled blog posts. I’ve been very actively working on projects and I am excited to share!
If you’re in a similar situation, how are you coping? Do you feel overwhelmed or are you just enjoying the slow down?
