Summary

The website content is a personal essay reflecting on the diverse experiences and emotional states of the author during Covid-19 lockdown.

Abstract

The essay titled "Living In Lockdown: 42 Experiences I Once Would Not Have Shared" is a candid exploration of the author's life during the pandemic. As a privileged white heterosexual female writer living with her husband for 60 years in suburbia, she shares her intimate responses to the writing prompt, "being in lockdown is..." Her reflections range from the opportunity to reassess life's priorities to the struggles of isolation and the adaptation to a new normal. The author touches on the loneliness, fear, and contradictions of life in lockdown, as well as the unexpected joys and discoveries, such as new connections and self-reliance. She also provides a glimpse into her daily life, including her routines, feelings, and the coping mechanisms she has developed. The essay serves as a testament to the resilience of the human spirit in the face of unprecedented circumstances and encourages readers to engage in their own self-reflection to manage stress and anxiety.

Opinions

The author views lockdown as an opportunity for introspection and identifying what truly matters in life.
She equates the lockdown experience to being imprisoned, highlighting the restrictive nature of quarantine measures.
The author appreciates the increased self-reliance that the lockdown has necessitated.
She expresses feelings of loneliness and the longing for physical touch and social interaction.
The author mourns the loss of a sense of safety and normalcy that existed prior to the pandemic.
She finds solace in the small acts of community, such as teddy bears in windows and painted rock gardens.
The essay conveys the author's fear and discomfort with the invisible threat of the virus and the challenges of adapting to new societal norms.
The author discusses the paradox of living in a virtual world while abandoning much of the physical world.
She highlights the importance of finding new ways to connect with others and the administrative tasks that have become part of daily life.
The author shares her discomfort with the changes in her routine, such as dressing well for video calls and missing physical affection from her grandchildren.
She emphasizes the stress and anxiety caused by the pandemic and suggests Logosynthesis as a method for relief.
The author promotes her book and provides resources for those seeking help with anxiety and stress.
She presents herself as an experienced psychotherapist and author, offering guidance and support to her audience.

Living In Lockdown

42 Experiences I Once Would Not Have Shared

I am a privileged white heterosexual female writer living with my husband of 60 years in suburbia. This list was created in response to a writing prompt with a time limit of 20 minutes. I’m sharing it here because my friends, also privileged white heterosexual females, responded to it so enthusiastically.

We are all living with contradictions in this world of Covid that none of us expected to inhabit. Acknowledging those contradictions seems to help all of us feel a little bit saner.

I invite you to stop reading here and respond to the prompt, “being in lockdown is…” Write your responses for the next 20 minutes — or just go ahead and read mine and see whether they resonate with you.

Being in lockdown is

· a chance to take time and figure out what is important.

· being in prison.

· becoming self-reliant.

· being lonely for the casual touch her friends.

· struggling to be physically active.

· wanting to go into hibernation.

· grasping for something that isn’t there.

· mourning for a vanished illusion of safety.

· learning to see the world from a different perspective.

· having a teddy bear hanging in the window.

· discovering a garden of painted rocks on a street corner.

· cowering from an invisible threat.

· weighing decisions I didn’t even know were decisions.

· learning about different styles of masks.

· wishing for the swimming pool to open.

· hair scratching the back of my neck.

· surprising new connections.

· attending meetings with people who lived in several different countries and juggling time zones.

· sitting in a workshop all day without ever leaving my home.

· dressing well from the waist up.

· learning to make videos all by myself.

· being startled by pictures of people touching each other.

· living in a virtual world.

· abandoning much of the physical world.

· learning the byways in hidden treasures my own neighborhood.

· being startled and uncomfortable when a car I am in goes over 40 miles an hour.

· appreciating senior hours at Trader Joe’s.

· being terrified of contact with unmasked strangers.

· deciding what risks are really acceptable.

· carrying hand sanitizer everywhere.

· not finding what I expect at the grocery store.

· missing wearing my pretty clothes.

· figuring out what earrings go with a mask.

· feeling stiff from too much sitting.

· eating my own cooking way too often.

· learning new ways of connecting.

· assuming unusual administrative tasks.

· missing hugs from my grandchildren.

· sending zoom invitations.

· being trapped in a maze.

· living in an alternative reality.

· not being able to wake up from a bad dream.

More than half of surveyed US residents report experiencing symptoms of anxiety. Everything in this list is a reaction to the stress we are all experiencing. None is unusual. I would not have shared them before the lockdown because they sound so contradictory.

Perhaps by reading this list and constructing your own, you can relieve some of your own stress. If you need additional help, explore Logosynthesis, the process I use and teach for rapid stress and anxiety relief.

My book, Letting It Go: Relieve Anxiety and Toxic Stress in Just a Few Minutes Using Only Words (Rapid Relief with Logosynthesis®) is a user-friendly introduction to the process.

For a copy of the 3 Logosynthesis sentences you can download a free copy of Quick Start Guide: Using Logosynthesis to Release Anxiety, Stress and Worry at http://www.BooksbyLaurie.com/guide

Find me at LaurieWeiss.com, Facebook.com/laurieweiss, www.Linkedin/in/laurieweiss, Twitter.com/@LaurieWeiss, Instagram.com/drlaurieweiss, Goodreads.com/Laurie_Weiss, BooksByLaurie.com

email: [email protected]

Dr. Laurie Weiss has been changing the lives of women and men for over 50 years. She is an internationally known psychotherapist and author of 13 books. Otherwise she is a wife (60 years), mother of 2, grandmother of 5, and enjoys reading, aquacize, cooking, and many other things that will eventually be allowed again.