Hi everybody! Life in Quarantine has been a constant flow of emotions and man. . . is it a roller coaster! Last week, Laura Tremaine, who is a blogger/podcaster suggested we write down the 10 things that are keeping us sane right now. When I first saw it, I will admit, I was in a funk. I was tired of being home, tired of oh, so many things. I kind of chuckled and brushed it away, but as I thought more and more about it. . . we are surviving. . . and I think pretty well, despite the occasional moments when we feel we are going to crack.
I wish I could write and tell you all that everything is going perfect and honky-dory over here. While we have our routine established and for the most part life is good, there are some days where I want to curl up and cry (for example, i was doing just fine today. . . until the cdc guidelines for schools next fall came out. . . ugh!). We are mourning so much loss and missing a lot of things and there are so many unknowns that, at times, anxiety creeps in.
I know that there are a lot of areas that are opening up and trying to resume normalcy, but where we live, sheltering in place will end next week. The reality is stores will open, but beyond that I'm not really sure what will be different. There is so much anger and frustration out there, that no matter what anyone does it will be wrong. Where a mask and you get insulted. Don't where a mask and you get insulted. SO.MUCH.MEAN! Let's be better than this and show love and kindness! Let's find ways to smile with our eyes and show love to others!
In many ways, this post is also a reminder to myself of what I need to be doing. In the midst of the quiet and our new (hopefully temporary) normal, I find that there are things that I have been doing to keep my sanity.
1. Exercise.
While I have not been able to work out like I would at the gym and I am very easily distracted around the house, I have been making sure we are moving each and every day. Lately, bike rides have been our jam. Everyday, just before lunch, the boys and I take a ride through our neighborhood. It is good for our hearts and our souls.
At the beginning, I was running in the mornings while listening to music and that was quite wonderful. Unfortunately, my knee started yelling at me a lot so I stopped. But, I honestly miss it.
Exercise has been a serious source of energy and keeping my mental health in tact. I have noticed that the days in which I am not as active, my heart and mind struggle.
2. God's Word.
This has been a must. I'm even leading a zoom study because I just love studying God's Word with women! But seriously, scripture has been giving me life (which it really does!). Even today, my heart was heavy with so many things, I was reminded of his faithfulness and his love when I slowed down and opened my Bible.
3. Reading.
I love to read and I will be the first to admit that sometimes I spend too much time on social media and forget to curl up to a good book. I have several books open right now and it has been so nice to slow down and just read. Last Saturday, I actually spent most of the day reading a book. I am not even sure when the last time I did that. It felt so good.
4. Write things down.
I am a list maker. I make lists that are really long and I know I can't get to everything in one day. But, the act of writing down my hopes for the day have really helped me focus and accomplish something. I'll admit that sometimes I just end up hiding from my kids because my mere presence causes them to want to tell me random things that don't pertain to their homework and then homework never gets done. I spend a lot of time just hiding in my office watching The Great in secret (so the kids can't hear!).
Also, write down your prayers and thoughts in a journal. Writing prayers down helps me focus my thoughts on what I want to pray and it helps me track how God is working in my life so I can look back and be reminded of his answers and his constant presence. I want to look back at this time in our history and say that God's changed me.
5. Get outside.
We've been making sure we spend some time outside each day because the sun does us good! We've been taking advantage of some great weather for bike rides and managed to hit a local trail and ride for a picnic. We started out taking daily walks, but now we just ride everywhere. Soon, that will be swapped out for swimming because next week we entering the triple digits and well. . . that's not fun!
My husband and I have also been taking nightly walks around the neighborhood, while the kids read in bed before lights out. This gives us some of that uninterrupted time that we lost when had to give up date nights. The reality is that these short little walks are one of my favorite parts of the day.
6. Get out of the House.
This one goes along with get outside. But, this one is a little different. We noticed that the boys were also getting extra antsy just being stuck at home and only going outside for walks and bike rides. So, every now and then we jump in the car and drive to a restaurant that we can order via drive thru. Yesterday, they came with me on my weekly coffee run to pick up our dinner for later.
I'm so glad our kids are at the age where we can leave for little bits of time and they are fine at home. Our oldest has his own {flip}phone and so we can keep track of them. This has allowed me to grab my favorite iced latte from our favorite local spot once a week. I have been able to get out, have a few minutes of alone time, and just feel a little bit human. I know it is just a latte, but the act of getting out of the house, alone has really helped my sanity.
Today my husband and I snuck away to drop something by his office and ended up grabbing Starbucks on the way home. It was something little, but we had a few minutes alone together and a little treat. (side note: today was the first Starbucks I have had since before the Shelter in Place was mandated!).
We have also planned picnics at local parks and hiking just to get out and have a little bit of an adventure. It does the heart good to not be in the same place for long periods of time.
7. Order take out.
We have been trying to get take out from some local places as well as some of our favorites. It's nice to take a break from cooking and have someone else do it. Plus, supporting local businesses is a great way to help your community's economy. We usually do it on night's where we can do a movie night and just get all cozy in our family room.
8. Do a little shopping.
I know this sounds funny. It's probably driving my hubby crazy, but one of my favorite things to do is to wander stores and shopping centers. It's weird. It's my jam. I obviously can't do that and so, shopping online has been something I do every now and then I order something. I don't know if it is the simple act of focusing on something else, but it helps. . . just a little. Plus, it has been taking longer to shop things and so I have something to look forward to several weeks.
9. Finding new ways to do grocery shopping.
When this whole thing went down, shopping really stressed me out. I was really worried about finding food that our whole family could eat and wondering if we were going to starve. Obviously, we are just fine. It turns out that during quarantine, nobody wants the dairy free/soy free stuff. Jon started out doing all of the shopping, but that grew old and we wanted to see him. So, we joined Thrive market and started ordering some things online (It's like Christmas when it gets delivered!) and started using instacart for some things. Those things are game changers!
10. Find ways to be creative and Spread some joy.
I'll be honest and say finding creativity during quarantine was hard. Trying to balance what I wanted to do and working with the kids on school work was weird. I had a difficult time finding balance. We started out baking a lot. . . until we realized we needed to ration out our flour (my sourdough will survive this pandemic!). Baking relieved so much stress and gave us something to enjoy!
From baking we moved on to gardening and figuring out how we can bless others. So, we played with succulents and made our own chalk and shared our baking with friends and tried to spread some joy in a season that is hard. My kids wrote letters and we made cards and we sent them to people who just needed a snail mail hug.
I've also been staring at a pile of fabric and several quilts that need to be worked on. I've even started cross stitching again and I won't lie, I don;t think I am going to stop. I often find myself sitting on my bed, stitching in hand, watching You've Got Mail or Sweet Home Alabama.
I feel like right now, more than ever, there has been a battle for our minds. This pandemic may feel very lonely and horrible at times and I wish very much that I could give each and every one of you a hug. I am so thankful that God is always with us. . . even if we are entering into some deep valleys of emotion. As we move into different phases of opening up, and we're all singing that Frozen song and opening up the gates, I just want to say continue offering grace and love. Smile with your eyes to the best of your ability. Don't judge or cause anyone to feel shame. No matter what direction we all lean, to someone you are wrong. Let's be lights and not add to the stress or shame of others.
I'd love to hear from you. . . what are you doing to keep sane??
