Coping with COVID: Day 1- Courage to Call it a Day

It isn’t Day 1, but I am starting this anyway. I wish I had started it earlier. But I also wish COVID-19 times weren’t lasting this long. We can wish a lot of things, right? I have the intention of writing a short blog daily now with one idea to help us get through one more day. I know so many people who were at the end of their rope weeks ago. Where are they now? At a 2nd stage or 3rd stage below the end of the rope.

If that is you, I want you to know that you are not alone. This is a hard hard time. Wildfires in the western US, new racial tensions erupting daily, a political ball of fire that also erupts daily with something new to be appalled at before we are done being appalled at yesterday’s abuse of power. Oh, and the economy is terrible. We are unemployed and struggling– or overworked and struggling. A lot of people are feeling this pandemic all over their lives. And it is hard on our families, our bodies, our psyches, our jobs, our children, our relationships, and our souls.

So today, here is permission to stop and take care of you. Don’t try to do “one more thing”. Don’t escape to Netflix and wine either though. Just stop, get in the bath tub, pour some Epsom salts in, and leave your phone in the kitchen. If you must distract yourself, pick up the silly book you put down weeks ago. Check the news tomorrow. This afternoon/evening, you rest your mind.

Bluetooth headphone connection to the computer can wait*. The emails we needed to send but didn’t yet today can wait. The bank balance checking can wait until tomorrow too. The dishes will wait in the sink. The conversation with a loved one where we need to apologize can wait too. This is emergency self care. Go do it.

Being courageous enough to go take care of ourselves feels awkward when we are in emergency mode. Do it anyway.

You got this. Tomorrow will be different. Not better, just different. And we will be ok.

*You are not alone. This was me last night at 7:15 pm, late to a Zoom call, trying to get my “stupid cheap-ass f-ing bluetooth” headphones to work with my “jacked up f-ing ancient” computer. Suddenly I had no speakers at all, nothing worked and I couldn’t hear anything. I still had emails I was supposed to write to people, a partner to apologize to for blowing up about our economics, and “my dishes” in the sink. I was overwhelmed and my back hurt too. So I stopped everything and went to the bath tub. This morning, I woke up, had a good creative brainstorm, and energy too. Bathtub therapy.