The ‘demic - Year 1

Mar 2

So….here we are….one year or thereabouts in to this nightmare, containable, bullshit of a pandemic.

OK, now that I complained, let me lean in to what I am grateful for / lessons learned from the last year:

Our home
Our jobs - though I recently resigned, pandemic was good for us. My spouse and I both remained gainfully employed throughout this nightmare, and, yeah, will leave it at that.
My established affinity for shawls/ponchos. This is who I am now.
Video chatting - we’re all Zoom’d out, I’m sure, but why I wasn’t video chatting with faraway friends & fam since ummm I moved to CO in 2008 is HILARIOUS NOW yuck yuck yuck.
Our cat. It’s nice having another living thing in the house aside from me for I’m only #MostlyDead
Internet access I mean HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOO - how else can we get through this? Reading actual books? LOLZZZ.
Reminder that a 30 minute workout is fine. Little yoga, little barre, little walks, it all adds up and let’s not be too hard on these bodies of ours as they’ve tried to survive an actual global crisis HAHAHAHA well when you put it like that…..
Witnessing the creation of viable vaccines in record time. Get the Nobel Prizes ready b/c what a feat of humanity and science. I’m actually crying as I write this. (Keep your anti-vaxx theories to yourself. I am uninterested.)
I’m grateful for the ways this ‘demic made me change. It was a rough adjustment being home all the time, moreover terrified what this ‘demic could do to loved ones given all kinds of health concerns - RIP to the tears I shed those first two weeks of lockdown.
- I would like to think I became more vulnerable. For one thing, I reached out to my father’s siblings to ask questions about him since I was so very little when he passed away.
- I would like to think I have become more accepting of situations in that I recognize the way the other party (job; personal relationship) isn’t going to change so I need to change. Certainly, the ‘demic has exacerbated The Fraught in any of those relationships - we’re all human and social creatures after all. But….
- Maybe it’s my age or maybe it’s my stage in life, but yeah, I’m going to be grateful for how I’ve adjusted throughout this thing, giving myself plenty of grace along the way.

I’ve had serious bouts of depression before this ‘demic, and in some ways I was prepared to address/recognize how I could go down those incorrect, unhealthy paths. Hence, regular exercise (low-impact. let’s be real….), reading, plenty of texting whomever and whenever I want, a lil bit of retail therapy #ShawlAllright, yes eating what I want b/c dopamine is real, buying subscriptions to publications I like, and following a book club this year and buying the book. (Good for the library-hold-list people, but imma do ME.)

It’s not over yet. There are plenty of months ahead. Who knows how we’ll all digest this ‘demic when it’s finally more of an afterthought and not our everyday.

Bless the frontline workers, teachers, and margarita makers - y’all are the real MVPs.

xoxox