I am grateful that I launched my blog a week before covid-19 because it has kept my mind off of the uncertainties we are all facing. I am also so thankful that God has provided for all of my needs prior to the lockdown; because I lost my job 6 months before the lockdown, I was already receiving unemployment benefits and therefore did not have to go through the delays of processing my claim at the same time as millions of others.
Having my finances already in order has allowed me to focus on my blog which has allowed me a mental health distraction from the anxieties of living in a pandemic and with no new income! Having said that, there are some things I wish I knew before the outbreak:
That the Quarantine Would be This Long
Could anyone have imagined that we would spend the better part of 2020 in restrictions? At first, I stopped almost everything along with the rest of the world. No more getting up and going to the fitness studio to workout. No more grocery shopping two to three times a week. I just watched in horror all of the news conferences and tried not to eat all of my comfort snacks right away.
After about two weeks of this, when an extension of another two weeks of lockdown was ordered, I accepted that I would have to live under these new conditions. If I had known that going in, I would have prepared a mental health self-care routine. Sleeping late because you can’t get to sleep at night and then eating unhealthy comfort food is not a winning plan, I soon found out. It didn’t help with my anxiety and nor did watching news conferences all day.
What did help, and continues to, is focusing on God and reminding myself that the shutdown is evidence that He, not man, is in control. Also, resuming the semblance of my routine has helped me maintain a sense of normalcy. I still can’t get to bed early, but I wake up early anyway. I signed up for my online at-home barre classes, so I start each day with a workout and then spend the rest of the day working on my blog.
To deal with the oppressive feeling of being trapped inside, I took daily walks around the neighborhood and moved my “office” outside to my patio. Even just sitting outside greatly improves my mood, but I still was not happy with the diminished physical activity so when things partially reopened, I added weekly bike rides at the beach to my routine. The change of scenery that I enjoy while relaxing on the beach afterward gives me something to look forward to each week.
It sounds all put together now, but it took weeks to figure out how to cope with these difficult realities.
That I Would Need a New Meal Plan
I cannot remember the last time I sat in a restaurant and ordered food. And since I have not been one for ordering takeout during the pandemic, I have had to cook more than I have ever had to in my entire life!
Do you remember what your first grocery store trip was like when you received the lockdown order? There was no picking out ingredients; you had to buy what was available and make it work. If I had known that a long quarantine was ahead, and that I would be making so few grocery store trips, I would have prepared a quarantine meal plan.
I would have prepared some make-ahead recipes that are good for freezing. In fact, I would have even planted my own little vegetable garden on my patio so I would not have to be so concerned about how to decontaminate produce bought from the grocery store. But maybe even more importantly, I would have researched some healthy snacks for all of these extra movie days on my schedule!
That There Would be a New Normal
I think that this is probably the case for everyone. There are so many things that need to change about this world, and I am hopeful that this pandemic will be the catalyst. Some things we are better off without and therefore do not need to come back. However, I wish I had known that the life that we all knew would one day be gone without warning and replaced with something entirely different. I think we would have taken more time appreciating the small things. I even miss the L.A. traffic. 😯
What do you wish you had known before covid-19? Please let me know in the comments below.
Until next time! 😷
Honestly, I wish I knew there was going to be a new normal, so we could have better prepared for it. Thanks for a lovely post.
Yes, that is a good way to look at it; time to prepare for the new normal would have been helpful! 🙏🏽 You’re welcome 😊