Novel Coronavirus. COVID-19. The ‘Rona. No matter what you call it, this virus has rapidly spread around the world and completely upended our lives. Social distancing is the hot new buzz word! It’s a must if we’re going to stem the spread. These times are nutty and I believe we’re in this for the long haul.
High anxiety. All the anxiety suffers out there, I feel you! I am one of you. I’ve had quite a few anxious days and nights when my mind gets overrun and overwhelmed. The instability and uncertainty of these times are challenging to navigate. The prospect of being infected and having serious complications is terrifying! Not only that, I feel the anxiety in the “air” at times. It’s at the grocery store, at work, online…everywhere! The general atmosphere of the world has changed and COVID-19 occupies every thought. It influences every action The anxiety comes and goes for me but others may be feeling it constantly. I have so much compassion for them.
A sense of loss. Aside from all the anxiety and panic, I feel a collective mourning in the air. Loss of loved ones to the disease. Loss of health as a result of the disease and/or the crisis surrounding it. Loss of businesses, jobs, and income. Loss of dreams. Loss of time with parents and grandparents. Loss of ruined or canceled vacations. Loss of proms, graduations, senior weeks, weddings, birthday parties, family reunions, even funerals/memorials. We’ve all lost someone and/or something as a result of this crisis. I feel for everyone who’s struggling with these losses.
Lost momentum. Before this, my social life here in the OC was starting to come together. I was going out to Meetup events with various groups and meeting new people. I was just beginning to feel less isolated and alone here. Now, isolation is key to survival and I’m at a loss as to how to keep up some semblance of a social life. I haven’t been able to make social media work for me in that regard recently. Maybe I should try one of the virtual meetups I’ve been seeing or start my own. I’m not usually one who organizes social events so maybe setting up a virtual hangout would be a good exercise.
The staple hunt. I have been looking for rice and Cottonelle wipes for over a week! I have all but given up on finding these items. Other things that have been hard to find include frozen vegetables, pasta, and canned beans. I know the importance of a well-stocked pantry. Before the panic buying extended from toilet paper to pantry staples, I was planning to pick up rice, frozen vegetables, and beans on my weekly shopping trip. This whole thing caught me at a bad time in that regard. I do have about a half cup of rice and rice noodles among other things so I’ll be fine. I also have a decent amount of toilet paper so I’m good there too. Some people aren’t so lucky/privileged. Some aren’t able to stock up even in the best of times. It might be wishful thinking but I believe that the panic buying will subside in the next week or two and the supply will stabilize. The people who bought 600 mega rolls shouldn’t need to replenish for a while!
Turn it off, turn it off! I believe information is power but sometimes, it’s just too much! It’s hard to look away though. I studied viruses a bit in grad school and I am a little fascinated by them. Overloading on the news is not good for my anxiety so I’m working on not reading it so much. I have mainly turned to TV as a distraction. In addition to my usual fare (Survivor, Manifest, This Is Us, Masked Singer, A Million Little Things), I’ve been sucked into The Circle on Netflix. If you haven’t seen the show, it’s a reality competition where people are essentially living in isolation and can only communicate with other people in the game through a social media platform. Ironically, it’s a bit like our lives right now but it’s silly enough to distract me. Distractions help keep the anxiety and racing thoughts down. Before this all went down, I binged Love Is Blind. I don’t usually go for dating reality shows but I did enjoy it. It’s a mess at times but there was a solid couple to root for. Anyway, it’s totally ok to disconnect from the news feed and get immersed in other things. It’s vital to mental health.
A sense of normalcy. As much as I can, I’m maintaining my workout routine from home with virtual barre classes. It’s not the same as going into my local studios but it helps keep the anxiety down and keep up the strength I’ve built. Bean can weights for the win! If you’re looking for free home workouts, Fitness Blender is a good place to start. Also, how I eat hasn’t really changed. I still made a quinoa salad for my work lunches even though I’m not going into the lab this week. The foods I rotate through for breakfast are all the same. I do want to try to support the restaurants so I’ll order in on occasion. If any industry needs to be bailed out, it’s the restaurant industry!
Will this change us? I’ve read quite a few articles about how this crisis has the potential to change us for the better. Ideally, we’ll come to appreciate the importance of family, community, and taking care of each other. Maybe COVID-19 will illuminate the importance of guaranteeing health care and paid sick leave for every citizen for some people. Maybe we’ll be more appreciative of our grocery clerks, restaurant workers, healthcare workers of all stripes, and public health professionals among others. I’d say I’m cautiously optimistic on this front. While I don’t see guaranteed health care and paid sick leave for all becoming a reality in the US anytime soon, I could see people learning to appreciate the value of real connection with others though. We need it.
That’s all for now. Until that curve flattens, stay home!