The last person I saw before I hunkered down in isolation was #Lynn, my #therapist. No, I don't believe in coincidence. I remember talking to her about being all by myself, unable to see my family and friends potentially for a few weeks and how, for an extrovert like myself who depends heavily on social interaction, it would be a punishment worse than death. She reminded me, among other things, that everything happens for a reason, even #coronavirus. Now, I'm starting to see it.
I won't lie - that first week of #quarantine I was freaked out. I don't even have so much as a goldfish, how was I going to make it without leaving the house, having only my Alexa devices to converse with? I'm one of those people who always has to be busy - if there's an empty space in my calendar I work hard to find something to put there. I don't like having too many days per week to myself and my mind spirals in scary directions if I'm alone for too long. The fact that I love living by myself just complicates things.
But here we are at the beginning of Week 8 and I'm still alive. Even I surprise myself sometimes. In all honesty, I feel like I've leveled up in life - earned some kind of badge, maybe. I have found peace in solitude, joy in finding creative ways to keep in touch with my favorite people, motivation to workout, and an interest in cooking. That's right, I said cooking. If you know me, I know you are laughing, but it's okay...it's funny to me too. I am also looking at this point in time as special - something we'll (hopefully) never have again.
I'm in awe over all the reports of nature reclaiming normally busy cities - clarity being restored to the Venice canals, smogless LA skies, and animals on urban streets. Here's a link to some pretty amazing photos if you haven't seen them already. It's so beautiful to see, but also a sad realization that human life unintentionally disrupts so much natural beauty.
One of the first things I noticed during the economy shutdown was how many people have taken to social media to reach people they didn't know and wouldn't have reached otherwise. There are athletes and TV celebs who are recording compassionate messages to fans and followers, musicians who are serenading people from their homes, companies offering what would normally be paid content and education for free. I loved watching the One World concert, the Disney Sing Along, Saturday Night Live from the actors' homes, and the Phantom of the Opera stage show. And did you see the high school kids singing on Twitter after being prompted by Broadway star Laura Benanti? *heart-eyed emoji here* I was blown away by our broadcast team's effort to bring familiarity into a digitally simulated LA Kings game, which I started noticing NHL-wide. I have loved and really enjoyed being invited inside people's living rooms, studios and gyms for an up-close-and-personal look at who they are as people; I love seeing their dogs and their kids included in their work. It made me feel like I wasn't alone and the entire world really is in this together. These are such unique opportunities that wouldn't have been possible without people being quarantined, and I feel lucky to get to experience this surge of creativity and inclusiveness.
Speaking of creativity and inclusiveness, I just finished a family dinner. For the third weekend in a row, my family has jumped on a video call and coordinated our meals, and it's as if we were really together at the dinner table. Between work meetings and time with friends and family, I've had at least one video call almost every day. From weekly calls with friends from the rink (thanks to #Bebe for kicking that party off!), which has included playing games online, to video-calling with friends I hardly even talk on the phone with on a regular day (I had been trying to get to visit #Stephanie and #Elana for months, but we finally connected on FaceTime!), I really feel like people are making time for each other and it's a beautiful thing! I've also been working out on FaceTime with #Matt, who's a professional athlete with the most rigorous fitness routine, which, coupled with my regular power walks up the hill, have me feeling pretty great physically. I have to admit - two months ago I wouldn't have had time for most of this.
When I moved into this place I found myself with a collection of plants, most of which live on my living room balcony. I'm not very good at keeping things alive, so I wasn't sure how that was going to go, but I'm happy to announce I haven't (completely) killed anything yet. In fact, on March 1st I planted some twigs in a pot, was told it would grow into a rose bush, and lo and behold, a couple weeks ago I had gorgeous, fragrant blooms! I'm not sure yet how to get them to come back, but I took a photo to prove I at least did it once. I have to say, tending to the plants - I think they call it 'gardening' - is quite calming and fun.
Something else I've managed to keep alive is myself - after only ordering takeout three times and making only two grocery shopping trips so far! I for sure deserve a badge for this, considering that when #Christie was helping me move, she threw out some of my cookware because it was in such poor shape. Whoops. The truth is, I've never really enjoyed cooking, but when I moved into my condo, I now had a brand new five-burner stove and oven, plenty of counter space and storage cabinets, and I vowed to recoup some of that mortgage money by saving money on eating out. Then quarantine happened and good thing I got a head start! I'm pretty proud of myself for learning and trying new recipes (Pinterest for the win!) and mostly sticking to my gluten-free/dairy-free diet. Some of my favorite dishes so far have been a lasagna, a meatball casserole, a mozzarella-stuffed meatloaf, garlic parmesan Brussels sprouts, and a four-ingredient banana bread (because banana bread is a quarantine requirement, right?) I am even growing my own basil and I use that in my dishes! (Now I really hear you laughing.)
While a lot of my time has been spent coming up with new ways to spend my time, I am revisiting tradition by sending my friends little surprises via snail mail. Thank goodness for my leftover supply of holiday stamps. #Juliet loved her card so much she put it on the chair to her right during our conference call - exactly where I would have been had we been in the #LAFRA office. Hey, whatever we can do to stay connected, right?
Don't get me wrong - I'm not just some green-thumbed robot knocking out phone calls, projects and workouts all day long. I've also been binge watching "Law & Order: SVU" (Olivia Benson is my hero!), and drinking by myself for the first time in life (the Trader Joe's wine selection is amazing!) because, as I am also newly learning, we need to take time to indulge once in a while. My whole point is that while I could be complaining about being jailed and going stir crazy, or protesting on the steps of City Hall about my rights being violated, I'm instead CHOOSING to retouch the paint trim in my master bedroom (after our 'wine and paint night' veered a little to far to the wine side), along with other awkward things from my to-do list, this blog being one of them. If my resting heart rate, which is currently dipping below 50, is any indication (a not-so-humble brag), I'm definitely doing something right. So if I need to add a few more days to my already impressive 50-day makeup strike to save some lives, I'm all about it.
Here's the lesson I'm learning: we don't have control of most of what's going on in the world, but we do have control of how we respond to it. Frankly I am shocked and impressed that I'm handling this time so well. I am CHOOSING to watch the puppies instead of the protestors and I'm taking advantage of this time to learn new things and better myself rather than get caught up in all the things I can't do right now. I wasn't able to do this so easily when I was younger, but I realized that stirring yourself up over things you can't control is tiring, stressful, and just plain unnecessary. Ain't nobody got time for that...even now.
I know this is a stressful time for everyone, so it's super important to take care of yourself mentally and emotionally. May happens to be Mental Health Awareness Month and Headspace is offering a free subscription through 2020 for LA County residents. In addition, if you're looking for a qualified, licensed therapist, here's mine - she's the BEST. If you aren't into video chatting, working out, or gardening that's cool. What are you doing to survive quarantine? What are you doing that you wouldn't get to do if everything was open? How can you better use your socially distant time to make sure that when this is all over you aren't wishing you did X, Y or Z? Have any recipes I should try? Leave your comments below and thanks for reading!
"We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorns have roses." - Alphonse Karr