If you’ve been living under a rock, under the sea like Patrick for the last ten months then you might not have heard about Covid-19. Let’s be real though, you have heard about it and you’ve probably complained about it almost daily. Corona Virus swooped in and turned all our lives upside down. Even with all the chaos, hopefully you’ve had some moments of calmness and clarity. How have you been surviving Covid-19? What are you doing to keep from going insane?
Before quarantine, I was never someone who went out and about just because I could. Sometimes I made plans and I did things on my own. My favorite pastime was going to the movie theatre alone and relaxing for a few hours while overindulging on salty, buttery goodness. Of course, I had the freedom to leave the house and go wherever I wanted if I chose to, even though I didn’t often exercise that privilege. When quarantine started, I knew it would be a challenge to find peace in my house. I live in a small house with people I don’t always get along with, and having to be around them 24/7 isn’t ideal – just ask them and I’m sure they would agree.
To keep myself calm and bring peace into my life, I actually started waking up earlier than I needed. I would get up and get out of the house for a walk before 7:00 am most days. I knew that once the other people in my house woke up, there wouldn’t be a moment of silence for the rest of the day. I needed to start my day on a positive note, so I would walk up and down the street, around the block, and even into the neighboring town for coffee. There was hardly anyone around, and I would take quick pictures of the things I walked past everyday. Sometimes it would be the leaves on a tree, like in the photo above, and other times it would be a street sign that I hadn’t previously noticed. One day I saw a sign that said, “Watch children”…I had to laugh because while it was a caution sign to indicate looking out for children while driving on the road, the phrase is just very awkward.
Such little things really added up for me during quarantine. Just knowing that I was going to wake up the next day and experience peace so early in the morning really helped me to deal mentally. Not every day was perfect, and some bad things did happen during quarantine, but I still tried to keep my quarantine calmness.
The U.S. is currently headed towards its third spike in Corona Virus cases, and I think a second shutdown is very possible. I’ve already been assigned to WFH indefinitely for the second time this year. I’m honestly starting to feel worn down and stressed out just knowing that I have to spend even more time stuck in my house during the end of the year. What can I do?
Even though it’s getting colder and more frigid by the day, I plan to still take walks and spend as much time outside as I can. If I have to sit on my front steps in the middle of the day and watch tv on my laptop then I will do so. If I have to do sprints in the driveway just to exercise in a different setting then I will do so. It’s the little things that you do for yourself as well as the small changes you make that can really help keep your inner peace. You may not have peace for the whole day, but even if you can get it for a few minutes then that is a small blessing.
I hope you were able to find the same kind of calmness during quarantine part one, and if we have to quarantine again then I pray you find even more peace. Keep the quarantine calmness, and let me know what you’ve done to find your peace by commenting below.
The Millennial Farmhouse 