Stable: The community is stable

Stay in the house

Due to the virus i have to stay in the house like everyone should be doing. Im over 70 years old so its not safe to be out and about. I just hope these young folks listen and stay inside so it can go away fast.

Kid-anecdotes

I have been working from home due to the work schedule change with the pandemic. I have a friend who is a single mom, with 3 small children. Mom has not been able to get her wifi service connected and her 3 elementary school children were unable to participate in the virtual classroom setting or get their school work done on time. Mom also had the opportunity to work during those 2 days. I offered to help her for 2 days while she fixed her issue with comcast. In those 2 days I learned so much from them. I learned about the struggles young families have in getting the children on the District website, looking for the assignments that need to be worked on, and the old keeping them on task regiment. I had to put all 3 in separate rooms with makes shift desks. The three year old had some fine motor skills to work on, he did great!I am divorced and my son is 24. I forgot what is was like to have kids in the house. I only had one child so three was quite a challenge. I am proud to say I still managed to get my work done daily. Hats off to all moms and dad struggling to be a teacher. I had some funny moments with them and realized how resilient these children are. I was on a conference call at one point, and I sensed someone slithering on the floor (I had told them I would be on a conference call and could not be disturbed). The 3 year old was trying not to disturb me so he slithered all the way from the doorway to my desk to ask if he was allowed to have a cookie, seems like an appropriate time to get a YES response. One they all finished their schoolwork we went outside to do an Art project. On the second day I was asked when the fine arts class was going to take place. Yes, I did read a book to them about Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera and we did work on a Jackson Pollack action painting project, the first day. On the second day of our fine arts class we made fabric masks from a t’shirt. The children painted a design on the fabric and then we cut them to size. The 3 year put his mask on and instead of seeing himself as a fictional hero character, he said he was a Doctor. The real heroes of there time. The entire healthcare community who are working hard during this crisis.

Rona

The virus has affected me because I have to be more cautious of the things i touch and making sure I wash my hands more often. This virus affects a lot because for us seniors we have no graduation no prom, everything is cancelled but on the bright side im saving money. The viruses is affecting me in a great way because im still doing what I want when I want I just have to be careful.

Work (Story #120)

The way the corona virus has affected me Iis my work for 2 weeks now I been job less because my job has been shut down now I’m struggling to pay my bill

Education (Story #108)

Coronavirus has affected me in many way one of them are me going to school And get my education these online classes are really not effective way for me to learn

We have to take this serious.

Well to be honest I thought it was a joke and didnt take it to serious. But as the time has gone by it has become a very serious. I myself have be impacted by have to now teach at home, as well as have my second job pretty much cutting hours reducing income into my home.

To be human together

I’ve been impacted by anxiety since childhood. When I was young, I felt a lot of shame about not being able to tell my brain to stop worrying (as well meaning adults suggested). When my two older children were in their early teens, they were both diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a condition that runs in both sides of my family. Although I had already worked on my anxiety in therapy, my children’s diagnoses motivated me to deepen my research, and do whatever I could to learn to manage my mental health and theirs. When their doctor wrote “mindfulness meditation” on a prescription pad and suggested it for all of us, I took it to heart. My children and I became vocal mental health advocates, and I trained in trauma-informed yoga and meditation to help others learn a skill which had helped me and my children. I went to work for non-profits focused on mental health and trauma, both as a yoga/meditation teacher and a mental health peer specialist. When people ask me what I do for work, I summarize it by saying I help both adults and children with “big feelings” by sharing my own experiences and tools that have helped me. Now with COVID-19, I can’t interact with the people I serve face to face. Individual meetings have been replaced with phone calls. Classes have been replaced with YouTube videos and live video-conferencing. I am adapting everyday, as are the people I serve. It isn’t easy, but I’ve noticed a resilience coming to the surface. I’ve noticed that skills that I’ve developed over many years to manage my general anxiety (and trauma) are also helping me to manage this situational anxiety. I see the same in my children, my friends who identify as being in recovery from mental health conditions, and in many of the people I serve. It isn’t universal. Others are really struggling. Seniors in isolation share their fears with me, and they are real and heavy. We practice breathing and grounding together (which is different on the phone but not impossible). We talk about gratitude and hope. We do what we did before, which was to be vulnerable, to sit with big feelings, empathize and acknowledge suffering. To be human together.

100 Days of Solitude

I wonder how much unlimited data on my phone plan really means. Ever since the beginning of this self-isolation era, I’m sure people have turned to their phones and their home wi-fi to ride this wave of corona virus-related news. I know everyone must be watching their Netflix, having Zoom conferences, virtual classes and virtual happy hours, and calling their people to ask them what they’re doing for the umpteenth time that day. As for me, I didn’t realize until now how crucial my phone has become to staying connected and keeping sane in a moment where staying home is the most responsible thing we can do. I wonder how many people are the same way and if the internet overlords can keep this going for us. Can you imagine if those networks fell? Do we whip out our typewriters and feather quills? Do we start to create to our Hulu comedy specials during dinner time? Worse, how long before people living by themselves start feeling the anxiety caused by confinement? I say we use ham radios again or even cans on very large lengths of strings moving forward. Solutions are endless, I’m sure.It’s a deep rabbit hole to follow when we think about how we became so dependent on the internet. It’s truly a blessing and a curse. While there are so many things going on right now, it’s important to stay optimistic and responsive to our community. So, thank you to all the technicians out there doing what they do and thank you to the invisible cable in the sky for carrying our memes, love letters, funny cat videos, and the smiles our loved people across the way for us.

Multiple-family social distancing

When we first heard about social distancing it sounded overwhelming to think that we would be away from extended family and friends for an undetermined length of time. A good friend and I decided that we would combine our families and social distance together. We made a commitment that we would not expose ourselves or our families to other people outside of our 10 person combined family. This has afforded us the opportunity to have the children play together, go to each other’s houses for a break, get some work done when necessary and have social interaction with people other than the 5 immediate family members living in my house. We had to cancel our spring break plans and then this past week we decided we would go to explore nature with our social distancing family. We have spent the last week tubing and letting the boys be boys. It has turned a stressful time into some of our favorite family memories.

I am going through, moving forward, and discovery new activities.

I have not been able to participate in several of my favorite activities, swimming, Zumba Yoga and walking in the park. But I am encouraged , I read more, clean out my closets, (I am gathering things that I don’t need or want, and I am looking forward to getting them out of my space.) I am journaling, and I crotchet and I reach out to family and friends and friends who are family more frequently. (I text, call and/or email.) I spend quality listening to music.