Category — Microblog Mondays

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

*******

I learned a new term this week: allostatic load. It is “the damage on our bodies when they’re repeatedly exposed to stress.” It’s what is happening to your brain from living under the stress of Covid-19: either because you’ve lost your job or you’re in fear of losing your job or your job puts you in harm’s way or you’re working at home but you can’t really get work done at home or you’ve lost a loved one or you’re in fear of losing a loved one or you’re about to meltdown if you don’t get out of your home or someone has just asked you for something and you have nothing left to give.

All of the above.

And we don’t know when any of this will end. Or what the next three years will look like.

I wasn’t sleeping before the pandemic, but I’m really not sleeping now during the pandemic. I’m awake at least once per night, but sometimes up to four times. I have a lot of nightmares.

It would be really nice if the universe could give us a break.

*******

Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts that are connected to businesses or are sponsored post.

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

*******

I’ve entered the “what will life be like after Covid-19” stage of isolation. I’m no longer checking the daily case trackers every hour. Instead, I’m seeking out articles that break down what may happen next. What does life look like after Covid-19?

And what do we mean by “after” if we can’t eradicate it or make a vaccine that always works?

The articles aren’t always cheerful: “When the coronavirus outbreak is under control, aversion to strangers or large groups, and the threat of infection they could pose, might echo in our minds for years.”

Like so many things, we won’t know until we know. Until we live it. But that doesn’t mean that people won’t try to think through what may happen next. And that’s where I am right now; devouring articles as they pop up in my feed, trying on the thoughts like clothing, seeing how they fit.

*******

Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts that are connected to businesses or are sponsored post.

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

*******

When all of this began, weeks ago, we created a list of house rules and clipped it up on the refrigerator. There were the “musts” that we mostly do: three meals per day, do your work, put on clothes. (Yes, sweatpants count.) And then there were the “tries,” which came with the understanding that they may not happen every single day, but they should happen at least three or four times per week.

One of the “tries” is connect with a friend via video chat or a similar medium. Something more than a text message. I told them that it was like a vitamin; it wouldn’t cure anything but your body certainly knows when it’s missing. Connecting with people can prevent bigger problems down the road. Just as you may be able to avoid certain health issues if you get a regular supply of nutrients (I’m looking at you, scurvy), having a regular dose of friendship may stave off some emotional crises. Again, not perfect prevention, but better than nothing.

So if you haven’t connected with someone in the last seven days, schedule a video call.

*******

Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts that are connected to businesses or are sponsored post.

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

*******

The Daily Mail has a series of photos with a slider. If you move the slider in one direction, you see how the British town looks during tourist season. If you move the slider in the opposite direction, you see how it looks today, during the pandemic.

Of course, it’s not just the UK. This is the scene everywhere. But the pictures are eerie, and I can’t stop toggling the slider back and forth, watching the people disappear and then pop back up again.

A hotel called us last week and canceled our birdwatching trip. They offered to move the reservation, but we have no clue when to set a new trip. And it’s not as if the birds will stick around and wait for the tourists to return.

*******

Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts that are connected to businesses or are sponsored post.

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

*******

Josh is doing grocery shopping for a few people every two weeks. We have been telling people to give us all their acceptable alternatives because things are often sold-out or missing from the shelves.

One thing this has taught me is how little brand matters at the end of the day. I mean, yes, there are times when something isn’t kosher, so we can’t get it, or it contains an extra ingredient that makes it unusable. But for the most part, while I went in with strong brand preferences, I am walking out of it not caring anymore.

Or not caring as much anymore.

I’m just grateful for my brand-I’ve-never-heard-of cooking spray and generic toilet paper.

*******

Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts that are connected to businesses or are sponsored post.