I Don't Ride On the Crazy Train

To put it mildly, there are times throughout 'normal' circumstances in my life that I feel a bit more than crazy. I actually believe that I should be the engineer for the crazy train and yell out the doorway, "All Aboard the Crazy Train." Well, now add on what the world is experiencing with the coronavirus, and I know that there are a lot of passengers for me to transport.

I have so many questions and the answers are not in black and white. It is so much that the experts don't know, in fact more that they don't know than what they do know. Staying sane while being quarantined, whether it is self-quarantined or mandated, it is still a potential for some serious stress. Seeing the hoarders buying up stuff as if there will be no tomorrow does not help either. 

I have had to come up with some positive ways to stay as close to sane as I possibly can. I have found that writing about my feelings help tremendously. First of all and above all else, I have to take care of myself through self-care so that I can be part of the foundation for those that I love. I know for a fact that they are doing the same for me. We watch out for each other, yet we have to manage our own emotions in order to not fall apart. Starting a journal if you never have before could be just the thing you may need. I know that it helps me to write down and keep track of my emotions on a daily basis. It gives me a sense of my own self-awareness and mindfulness.

More self-care is to be sure to laugh out loud at some of the riddles, jokes and videos being shared on social media concerning what we are all going through. For example, with schools being closed there are several jokes going around such as: Day 4 into Home-school and two students have been suspended for fighting and the teacher has been fired for drinking on the job. Parents are finding home-schooling is not quite what it is cut out to be. There is a YouTube video called A Desperate Mother's Prayer that truly says it all. Laugh! It is so good for us all to laugh. 

Use this time to try a new recipe or two or three. I am trying to use this time to eat well and not put carbs in my diet. (That happens more frequently when we eat out so now that we are not eating out or ordering in, it is in my hands.) Cooking is a great stress reliever for me. I am aware for some it is a stress inducer. It is ok. Find your niche. Also, important is to get enough sleep. It boosts our immune systems. Stress can make it hard to get to sleep and stay asleep. I love the tones that I can use on Alexa or my Iphone for white noise, pitter patter of raindrops or a babbling brook. Anything that I think may help is what I have been making available to not only me but my husband. It is team work.

I loved seeing the Italians going out on their balconies at a specific time to sing and come together. We are really a resilient species and there are many heroic efforts going on with global commitments that sooner or later things will get better. I am not such an optimist to believe that it will happen with the snap of our fingers. Already there is some good news that in China after 4 months, some normalcy is taking place. Will it be the kind of normal that we are all used to? No. That will come in time. If we all follow the World Health guidelines and wash hands, sanitize everything, no large gatherings, closing of restaurants and venues where people are together, it will happen. There actually are some people who need lessons in social distancing. Let's help them out.

I like to take the time to use my deep breathing app on my FitBit. It works for me. Tai Chi video is another way of stretching and moving while focusing on breathing. One afternoon, I managed to clean out our kitchen cabinets and found so much accumulated junk that needed tossed. As the weather gets better, my next Spring Cleaning/Declutter job is to get our Inside Out Room thoroughly dusted and mopped so that we can have another room to go out to with our dogs. They would enjoy having another space to play in and it would give us another room to read, listen to music, play with the dogs and just talk. I have my easel and paints with canvases out there so I would be able to paint some. It is a time to work on those hobbies and study up on things that you have wanted to do for some time. That is how I am going to look at it. I hope this spurs some ideas for others. It is important for us to find joy with each other. Be creative in how we can find joy. It won't be throwing a big party right now. There are ways of reaching out by phone, video chats, FaceTime and all of the other social media available to us. 

This is not the time to have your lid continuing to pop off. This is a time to come together. You see, I know that I am the driver of the crazy train. 

I feel as if it is what I was born to do. Luckily (at least I think so) I have been able to keep it under control somewhat. All in all, if we work on practicing self-care, throwing in a healthy dose of kindness to ourselves and to others, then we can be there in spirit for others.

Everyone and anyone is welcome to hop aboard and let's get this crazy train rollin'. This will be a good workout for my imagination since I am well aware that we can't all be together on the crazy train. In our minds we can and we can share how we are feeling with each other. Someone may need help getting over a rough spot of staying quarantined. I just want to be there for them and I hope they are there for me.

Let's be thankful for what we do have and hope that our scientists are working around the clock and teams continue to put together plans on how we can get the crazy train back on track. Help to spark some joy instead of fizzling out the joy. It is the healthy, happy, hopeful, heroic, and honorable thing to do in these challenging times.