Quarantine Day 6 (for me)

What’s up everyone? As is typical with western PA, it is now 36 degrees instead of 70… so I don’t think I’ll be going for a walk today lol.  I did manage to work out though and I’m going to try to get a lot of work done today so I can focus on more creative endeavors tomorrow.

I finally made a video, just saying hello and would encourage you all to do the same. It would be a nice way of stay connected. I was angered by an article I read saying that trauma should be taken as seriously as this virus. I just… was sort of offended. Even as a mental health professional, I KNOW that trauma can kill people and ruin lives… but I also know that if you are intubated in a hospital, you are not going to be working on trauma, or getting a chance to get counseling. Yes, trauma is a pandemic as well, but we also need to focus on containing the virus.

I get sick of hearing all of the news about the virus, it can be so exhausting. Here is a short video that has helped me to keep things in perspective. When everything seems like it’s going wrong or is completely out of control, it helps me to think about the possibility of good things happening again.

I’m continuing to read Plan B by Anne Lamott and it has been helping me, so maybe some tid bits from it will help you too.

We start by being kind to ourselves. We breathe, we eat. We remember that God is present wherever people suffer.

Regardless of your religion/spirituality, you could switch “God” with the universe or nature… that something greater than yourself is witness to your hardship/suffering/stress. Meditating on that often helps me to put things in perspective, that I do not exist within a vacuum, and neither do you.

I remembered the seasonal showers in the desert, how potholes in the rocks fill up with rain. When you look later, there are already frogs in the water, and brine shrimp reproducing, like commas doing the macarena; and it seems, but only seems, that you went from parched to overflow in the blink of an eye.

It’s possible to go from parched to overflow in the blink of an eye. Things can turn around. Groves can become lush with green and life again… and human life can thrive despite hardship. This quote seems to at least partially explain why I feel so connected with the water– it signifies life. So when I was caught in the downpour yesterday, I wasn’t mad. I was probably the happiest I’ve been since this quarantine started. That some things, like the weather, are still behaving as usual despite the chaos in human’s minds. Try to use the Earth’s cycles and behavior to ground you. It can be helpful to turn to nature/outside during times like this.

Be safe.

Be well.

Much Love,

Natalie

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