Pandemic Response
Our everyday routines have been affected by the pandemic. However, since my husband and I are retired, we probably have had less drastic changes than people still employed in the workplace. At first, my children took the warnings more seriously than I did, and it seemed like roles had become reversed and they were “grounding me!” They were generally concerned about me exercising by walking the concourse at Ball State’s arena and attending some committee meetings for volunteer work. When BSU canceled face-to-face meetings and went to online, I restricted my activities.
My husband and I are “sheltering in place” with infrequent trips to the grocery store. It seems we are going to the store maybe every 4-6 days. My husband and I are exercising daily. He always does his, but I am exercising a little more. It seems like a good break to get outdoors. I even set up a little indoor exercise area with a yoga mat, exercise ball, hand weights and stretchy band. It would be easy to sit around and read all day, but I think it’s important to move periodically. I feel I am getting some good habits imposed on me.
My times of going to bed and getting up are about the same as before this period. We are eating as well, or better than usual. I have more time to think through the meals and I am not eating out in restaurants. I am still taking showers daily and putting on clean clothes. My husband isn’t doing this, but he didn’t do it as often as I did anyway.
When I have gone out, I have thought there was noticeably less traffic. The grocery stores were quite empty when I was there, and the stores had a good supply of antiseptic wipes for the carts. I didn’t see anyone who seemed stressed out or who was obviously ignoring the safety regulations. In general, in my observations, local people were taking appropriate precautions. However, I haven’t been in the stores much.
I have spent my time reading, doing needlepoint, and assembling genealogy notebooks for my 3 children for Christmas. The reading has been great! I can finish a fiction book in about 2 days, so my reading speed has picked up with all this practice! The needlepoint projects are things I started a long time ago and I’m finally completing. One of my New Year’s Resolutions has been to complete a project a month. The genealogy notebooks have taken a considerable amount of thought for me to plan what I want to include and how the final products should be. I like doing all these activities. I’ve reduced social media and news and am trying to stay positive.
One of the surprises for me is how happy I am to take all my usual activities off the calendar. We have had to cancel some travel plans so that has been stressful, but other than that, I have enjoyed being isolated and having undesignated time. I’m sure a lot of this is due to my natural inclination to be an introvert but it makes me realize how much of the time I do things that I am not that excited about doing. I’ve been giving thought to, “In the rush to return to normal, use this time to consider which parts of normal are worth rushing back to.”
In some ways, I don’t see this as “social distancing” as much as “physical distancing.” There seems to be some creative ways to maintain social contacts. I think my daughters have called more. (In an odd reversal of roles, my middle daughter spoke rather sternly to me and effectively “grounded” me from outside activities! ?) I’ve received some creative ways to interact online. (Ex. My church has set up a weekly Zoom meeting so people can see one another. Also, the pastor has put a weekly sermon online. There have been some funny jokes circulated via the internet. The BSU Peace Center, on which I serve as part of the advisory board, put together a list of self-care and other-care ideas.)
I’m concerned about my finances and the whole society. Actually, I am concerned about the whole world. However, I know there’s not much I can take care of, except me. I am grateful I have a house that’s paid for, food, my kids are ok and still employed. We have water, heat, and I have seen some acts of people reaching out to one another. Our next-door neighbors brought over some bread and extended and offer of help if we needed it. (We may have been their “service project” for the day, but… whatever, it was still thoughtful!) One sunny day, neighbors down the street invited us to come down and sit in their driveway. I brought a chair and a drink, and we sat 6 feet apart and visited. It was a nice break from being inside.
I hope this does change people in the future. Realistically, once everyone gets busy and trying to “catch up” with their work, some positive actions may be lost, but I hope not everything. I hope I keep eating and exercising more regularly. I also intend to reduce the committees I am on and spend my time doing things I want to which will include more uncommitted time. I know this won’t be easy and others compete for my time so I don’t have a clear idea how this will work. I think this whole event would be easier if we knew the end point but since we don’t, I guess we’ll just keep on keeping on the best we can.