Hello everyone,
So, here we are, all stuck in our homes… some are still working, coming and going and worried about their families since they are more at risk of catching anything. Honestly, this feels like a weird surreal world that we one day woke up to and did not have time to prepare mentally for…
I, not only am going through the trauma of the COVID-19, but also the trauma of having lost my job even before this whole mess. As many of you read earlier, the university I work for is permanently closing at the end of this month. As many have posted on social media, the year 2020 is just not going well and it should be restarted to see if we get a better outcome.
I am not going to lie, all these things are not helping my anxiety and depression, I have been doing the best I can to stay busy and do productive things at home. I have started a shop on Etsy and have been fortunate enough to have wonderful friends and family who are supporting me and made some purchases.
On the job search side, today we got the news that our state will not open schools for this school year anymore and on top of it the money the schools were promised is not coming and their hiring should be put “on ice”. This is not good news for me because I am a teacher and that is the kinds of jobs I was looking for. It has become clear that I need to branch out and focus on those other jobs from now on.
So, I thought I would share some of the things I have been doing to keep me going during this crazy time, this quarantine.
- I have been taking Lulu (our puppy) on long walks everyday
- I have been working on learning French (now I have more time to dedicate to it)
- I have been sewing
- I have made some crafts
- I have ‘pestered’ my kids to do their homework
- I have been cleaning the house (not my favorite)
- I have been doing the laundry (it never ends, ugh… 🙁 )
- I have called and texted to check in on friends and family
- Only when necessary, I have gone grocery shopping
- I have cleaned out my room and got rid of a lot of stuff
- I have switched out my closet
- I have watched a lot of movies
- I have watched a lot of TV
- I have read good books
- I have done my work during the day
- I have even cut Lulu’s nails
The main thing is to give yourself a break… Some days I just don’t feel like doing much and I allow myself to take that day to just watch some TV and take it easy. Other days I feel more productive and get more things done. My new motto since the announcement that the university was closing is: “One day at a time” and I believe that is the only way to go through this.
What I sometimes think about is how we will have to tell our grandchildren about this and how we handled it. It will be interesting for sure. It might be a good idea to keep a journal of our frustrations and our successes during this time. It is easy to forget details of what happened.
Thank you for reading and until next time,
Juliana