What I Did On My Global Pandemic, Part 3
We are in the two month range now of near lock-down conditions for me. Had my first full-on bout of “quarantine brain” last week. I was positive that it was Tuesday. Clearly. Tuesday. No doubt in my mind.
Until my wife gave me that “What planet are YOU on?” look.
It was Wednesday.
So I’m still working out how to get through all this change in my life. I have little projects I’m working on. Getting back into my guitar playing. Recording an audiobook for another author. Creating Instagram posts. Looking for ways to promote the books. Thinking about learning to draw. Trying to learn Spanish. It will be an immense help when I’m back in a classroom or in general. (Have you heard the joke that goes ‘ What do you call a person who speaks three languages? Trilingual. What do you call a person who speaks two languages? Bilingual. What do you call someone who speaks one language? An American.) It challenges the brain in fresh ways. That’s a good thing for someone who is trying to stay creative. So, ¡Hola!
The cooking challenge is going well. I’ve used about a dozen of the now 30+ kitchen toys on my list. And have cooked new recipes from several cookbooks. Everything has been somewhere in the good to we need to do this again range, so I’m happy. Playing with toys, making delicious food. What could be better?
The music challenge is also interesting. I’m pulling from a different shelf each day at random. Bob Seger, John Denver, Hootie and the Blowfish, the Who have led the way. Lots of “Wow, I’d forgotten this one” along the way.
Some binge-watching, too. We took advantage of the Acorn TV free month and have watched lots of British TV. Most of it very good.
I’ve also realized that getting through this isn’t about “special quarantine busy work”. I have to find a way to make a rational way of life out of the situation. It won’t look like what happened before, but it may have a profound effect on what comes after. I’ve been “out of work” several times in my career. I learned something about myself in each of those interludes. After working for a boss who was a bit of a bully, I learned to not bend in front of someone who wanted to diminish me. After losing out to some office politics, it learned there is life after betrayal. I’ve learned I’m stronger than I believed, and that sometimes what seemed like the right decision was not the best decision. I am reminded of the things and people I love.
The goal now is to transform all those lessons learned into the plan for moving forward. I know what I want to do. I know what the bottom line is for me to take that first step. At the moment, I don’t have an answer for how to get there. But with what I’ve learned so far, and what I’m going to learn, I will get there.
Later this month, I will use this space for a monthly “Caring for Your Creative” post. Ways of taking care of ourselves so we can keep the creative part of our lives going. That will include almost every aspect of my life as the subject of the study. Health and exercise, creative outlets, fresh challenges, old goals.
In the meantime, stay smart, stay safe, and as much as possible, stay home.
Peace
Jay
Stories Are My Life 
It seems like you are doing really well during this pandemic. I admire your strength and mindset and the way your going about things.
This was a good read.
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Holy cow! Somehow this got lost in my shuffle. My apologies. Thank you so much for your comment. I’m doing the best I can.
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