One Fine Day: Discovering Optimism and Hope During Lockdown
Poignant discoveries while staying at home
- What have you missed the most during this lockdown? Many things, but most poignantly I have missed our family's daily routine, driving my son to school, dropping in at the library, and talking about country living with my neighbors as our pack of dogs roams the adjacent fields.
One thing that has been particularly hard is that I tend to sense and feel the emotions of others, and lately, the collective sense of fear has been crushing me, if I let it. I miss not feeling the worry and sadness around the world. So I’m finding it more important than ever to connect with my spiritual side, to feel and know that everything will be OK.
2. What is the best thing about being in a lockdown? That would be having precious time to teach and play games with my son. He keeps asking when the virus will be over, and I say, “Don’t worry, nothing lasts forever.”
Also, we’ve been having family party weekends, where we play music and games like Mille Borne and Zingo Bingo, my husband and I drink a cocktail and my son drinks some Gatorade, and then we prepare copious amounts of pesto pizza and fudgy brownies—it’s all wonderful and we gratefully look forward to the break.
It’s also been great to spend 24/7 with our rescue animals. I love them so much and feel like our bond has deepened over this time, especially with the newest rescue, Raffie.
3. What has been the worst thing about being in lockdown? The worst thing is the look on my son’s face when I told him school was canceled for the year and the tears he cried when he learned that we couldn’t go to the library or see any of his friends for the foreseeable future. We tried a Zoom call with my son’s preschool class and it was a hilarious disaster—imagine 30 cute preschoolers talking at once, but no one could hear a thing.
I worry about getting adequate vet care for one of our rescues if needed, and I worry about the cost that vet care inevitably brings.
4. Who would you have liked to host in your home during the lockdown and why? Anyone who enjoys margaritas, pit bulls, hot pizza, and 1,000 Hot Wheels cars strategically scattered across the floor.
5. What have you discovered about yourself in the lockdown? That I need to relax more and spend more time at home. During the year, I always feel the need to do more things than necessary and I’m realizing that it’s draining and taking away precious energy from the things that really matter in life. I’ve also discovered that I’m more of a homebody than I previously thought—an introverted extrovert.
6. What did you eat (or drink) the most during the lockdown? That would be delicious Daiya pizza. It’s a family favorite and, during the lockdown, we’ve been having it 3 nights a week (at least), along with roasted artichokes, shoestring fries, and double-fudge brownies. We set the table with our turquoise tribal placemats, chill glass tumblers, and gaze out the window with delight as we watch magnificent Stellar’s jays swoop by. My son is also obsessed with lemonade; it’s the first thing, other than gummy vitamins, that he asks for each morning.
7. Apart from sleeping and working, what activities did you undertake the most during the lockdown? Probably helping and supervising my son's homeschool. His teacher sends out a video most mornings and I am thankful for that.
I walk with my 3 dogs on long loops around the yard to further cement the premise of the word “boundary.” And also writing, reading, baking brownies, and rock and canvas painting with my son. We read a sweet book about painting stones and then replicated the story.
8. Will you come out of lockdown heavier or lighter? I’d say heavier because I had to wear real pants last week and they were noticeably snug. I’m not surprised though, as we’ve been eating a lot of pizza, mac and cheese, and brownies, and not getting very much exercise.
9. What resource has helped you the most during the lockdown? I would say reading, writing, and meeting like-minded Medium members.
10. What is your top tip for other people in lockdown right now? To do the best that you can with the tools that you have at your disposal. We all have unique challenges and things for which we can be grateful, so I would say do your best and do what only you can do. For me, this means teaching my son important life lessons, how to read, writing about what I know, and keeping the rescues healthy and happy.
11. How has lockdown changed you? Lockdown has taught me that I need to seek out balance in my life, pandemic or not.
Before this, I was starting to feel a sense of normalcy after moving to a new town 8 months before. It was where we wanted to be, but I found myself working from home in a new place while taking care of my son for what seemed like endless days. Although it was enjoyable, it was also isolating and I missed connecting with other adults and having more opportunities to grow.
I’m learning something that I’ve learned many times, which is that moving is hard and it takes time to find a new equilibrium.
12. If you were to leave a ‘message in a bottle’ for the future, what would you say? Don’t sweat the small stuff. Take care of your health and continue to practice kindness and compassion. Keep rescuing animals, as many as you can.
One last question, where are you? Nestled in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
This article was in response to the prompt: Answering Questions About A Lockdown from Keno Ogbo.
Below are several articles answering the same 12 questions by the brilliant Keno Ogbo, 🦄 Chris Hedges, Dipti Pande, Kevin Buddaeus, Besom & Bletherskite, Russell Weigandt, Lori Brown, Timothy Key, and Amy Marley. ❤️
I Answered A Chain-Questionnaire
Because I Want To Be Cool Like The People Who Tagged Me.
medium.com
I’d like to share this with a few other Illuminating writers. If you take part, in this challenge, please tag me, I’d love to read your answers too, Trista Ainsworth, Livia Dabs, George J. Ziogas, KeepingItRealWithAnnick, Paul Myers MBA, Terry Mansfield, Michele Thill, Kathryn A. LeRoy, Ph.D., Joe Luca, Erin King, Wolfie Bain, Shin Jie Yong, R Tsambounieri Talarantas, Andy, Cristian Mihai, Volo Vash, Gurpreet Dhariwal. ❤️
