Whatever gets you through the day – it’s a pandemic people!
Hi Musers, today’s piece is a continuation of a previous piece where I explained how vital it is that we learn to give ourselves a break. What I want to talk about today is using whatever you need to to get through the day and not feeling guilty about it. Life can be tough, especially now, and if we need something extra to look forward to then we need to just embrace it. Be happy that you’ve found something to look forward to that makes your life a little better. This pandemic is making life hard, well done for finding a way to cope!
Before we begin…
I know the title of this post is whatever gets you through the day but there are a few exceptions. Before the comments come in accusing me of supporting addiction or dangerous behaviour I am not including drug use or excessive alcohol consumption in this. I’m not naive, I know people take drugs and drink to excess as a method of coping. However, due to the inherent risks, I encourage these people to seek help from a support group or trained professional.
Let’s go!
Ok, now we’ve covered the disclaimer let’s get back to the main point of the post. I’ll be the first to admit when I’ve faced struggles in my life I’ve always turned to food. There is nothing as comforting as tea and chocolate, a piece of cake or a big bowl of pasta. However, at the moment I find myself needing more.
We are in the middle of a pandemic. Here in the UK, more than 40,000 people have died. I’ve been working from home since February, spending all day by myself in my study. I haven’t been able to freely mix with my friends or family since then either. For an extended period, gyms were closed so I didn’t work out. Life has pretty much gone to hell. Here are some examples of things I’ve started counting on for help.
Friday Treat
I place an Uber Ears order every Friday morning. I order a sausage sandwich and a salted caramel frostino for breakfast as well as a sweet treat which I save for the afternoon. For those of you asking how many calories there are in all that I have no freakin’ idea! I could look it up but honestly, I don’t care. I look forward to my treat all week. It keeps me pushing on toward Friday. I do not feel guilty for a second eating it.
Sleep
I sleep a lot more. It really is crazy how exhausting it can be staying home all the time. You would think it would be less tiring but it isn’t. My life is completely out of whack right now. I am tired all the time but in a different way to my chronic fatigue. I think being at home all the time and doing a fairly uninspiring job is just sapping my motivation. Now I completely understand why some animals hibernate. I just want to curl up in bed and sleep til this whole coronavirus pandemic thing is over!
As that’s not a possibility I find myself having more naps. I was so tired last week I took the afternoon off from work one day. I intended to have a brief nap then catch up with a few writing projects I had going. Instead, I slept like the dead for three and a half hours straight. Again I did not feel guilty when I woke up. I just accepted it was what my body needed at that moment and moved on. If you find yourself sleeping more and other things in your life are starting to slide please remember it’s fine. As long as your kids have semi-regular meals, your pets are fed and walked regularly and you can make it to the kitchen, bedroom and lounge then all is well.
It’s ok if you’re not on top of everything right now
The world will not end because you’re wearing a top with a stain on it. You are not the worst mother in the world if you buy your kids a happy meal because you are too tired to cook one night. Dust will come back on the floor and all your surfaces anyway so it isn’t a crime to leave the hoovering and dusting til another day. If that 30-minute nap after work is all that’s keeping you sane then have it! You are not a bad person you’re just doing what you need to.
Netflix
I enjoy a good box set at the best of times but right now the world is just so goddamned bleak! This is bad enough on its own but due to social distancing restrictions, there are also substantially fewer escapes than I would normally have. It must be at least 10 months since I last went to the cinema. I have been out for a meal once during that time which was for my sister’s birthday. Even shopping isn’t a fun experience with one-way systems, multiple applications of hand sanitiser and a general feeling of anxiety. Even though we need things I live in fear of a casual contact spreading the virus to me or someone I love.
My refuge has become Netflix. I love escaping into another world both the expand my currently tiny life and for good old fashioned escapism! I’m spending a lot of time in front of the tv right now. It means I’m not exercising much and I find it harder to be as productive as I’d like in my writing but again it’s what I need and I’m just accepting it.
Alcohol
Before you all start yelling I know what I said about alcohol at the start of this article. If you go back and check though you’ll see I said excessive consumption of alcohol. No really I did! Go back and check…..told ya!
I love Havana Club rum with Pepsi max and lots of freshly squeezed lime. It has nothing to do with the intoxicating side of alcohol and everything to do with the taste. If they could invent something that tasted identical with no alcohol I’d happily change to drinking it instead. In the past, I’d have one glass once a week. Now it’s more like three nights a week. I think you’ll agree that’s far from excessive. It mellows me out a bit and I enjoy drinking it so I’m going to carry on.
If you need a glass of red wine a few nights a week then have it! Almost everyone’s alcohol consumption has gone up over these last few months. Do not even think about calories! Seriously, it is a measure of how fatphobic and thin obsessed our society has become that even while we’re in a global pandemic and hundreds of people are dying each day we’re still worried about gaining weight during lockdown! We are in survival mode people! Let’s consider ourselves lucky if we make it through alive. We should consider ourselves downright blessed if we make it through without losing someone we love.
Every single day, for over 8 months, people have lost grandparents, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, cousins, old friends and best friends. If you make it through that without the heartbreak of losing someone you loved, someone you should have had years or even decades with, don’t you think you should count your blessings? Whining about putting on weight makes you seem pretty shallow and self-centred in the face of so much grief. I am not saying you’re not entitled to your feeling but you should maybe try and put them in perspective ok?
Takeaways
We are in the middle of a global crisis. If you have found anything that helps you through each day then embrace it! Don’t be worried if you’ve put on a little weight, or what the neighbours will think if your grass hasn’t been mowed, or if you need sleep more than you need to wash the dishes. You are doing what you need to to take care of yourself and that’s what we all need to do right now. Chin up Musers. We’ll get through this!
