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A global pandemic has forced citizens around the world to retreat to their own homes, avoiding neighbors and contact with the outside world. Meanwhile, in Utah, earthquakes have been rattling the ground for the first time in sixty years.
Sounds like a book, doesn't it? Like a pretty interesting book, too--maybe I should write it! Except it might be hard to get perspective, since we're freakin' living it!
How are you holding up? Do you have enough food? Enough necessities? Are you staying sane? LOL, that's a tough one, right? The COVID-19 pandemic hasn't really changed my own life very much, since I worked from home before the quarantine, but it all feels different.
I'm a person who keeps a lot of my big feelings buried deep. I do this subconsciously, but I know they're there because my creativity feels restricted, like a bird caught in a net. I'm easily distractable right now, second-guessing myself all the time and lazing about when I should be working. But I'm thinking I'm not the only one who's feeling this way right now.
So what can we do about it? How do we make this time in our lives count for something? I don't know what the answer is, but I have some ideas that I'm gonna try. Maybe you'd like to try them, too. And if you have ideas to add to mine, please share them! Let's help each other not just survive this time, but thrive.
(And just to give you a glimpse into how wacky a creative brain can be,
I wrote up to this point two days ago. Now I can't remember what my great ideas were!)
Now that I don't remember what I was gonna say, I feel a lot less confident and really need your help. All I've got is...
Create a routine and try to stick with it as much as possible
But be ready to be spontaneous, should the opportunity arise!
Go outdoors. Just because we need to practice social distancing, and avoid crowds, doesn't mean we can't go for a drive, take a walk, or have a picnic.
Spend time with your family. Not just the hanging-out kind of time, but intentional time. Eat dinner together without the TV on or while looking at phones. Play a game. Watch a movie together. This is your chance to reconnect with the people who matter most and while right now it seems like this business is going to go on forever, it's really not. And when it's over, you don't want to regret not having made the most of it.
And while we're talking about spending time with the most important people--don't forget yourself. With all this extra time you have right now, maybe you could spend time with yourself. Take yourself out on a walk. Write in a journal. And especially, take some time to listen to the silence and let yourself be inspired.
Well! I think I did all right, after all! I'd love to hear any additional suggestions you have, though. Let's help each other rock this awesome time we have!