Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Keeping Yourself Sane

In these weird-ass times, it's important to keep yourself sane. It's difficult to sleep, hard to get something to eat which you'll want to eat, and it's even more difficult to get motivated in the mornings. Yes, you just don't want to get out of bed anymore; thinking there's no point in getting up - because there's nothing to do, nowhere to go and not much point in getting out of bed until 1pm.

Well, I'm afraid to tell you this, if you keep doing that to yourself, you will actually put your system at risk of catching this virus and you will get sick.

If you think that sounds negative, well, I don't mean to be - it's the truth about being depressed and also being mentally exhausted. We are all feeling this right now and it's a matter of doing a few things which will put you onto a more normal keel.

Get to bed and get up at your regular times.

I know that sounds like a no-brainer, but there's you out there who are going to bed a midnight and getting out of bed at 2pm and then complaining you have no energy and don't want to get out of your pajamas and you're sitting around watching television all day or sitting around surfing the net all day on your phone. This is not healthy... and what's worse for you is to call up for take-away and have those 'zero-contact' delivery show up. I'm telling you right now, there's no such thing as zero-contact. They have to make your food, right? Well, they're touching it there... make it yourself.

And speaking of which: 

Get in and cook your meals yourself.

Cooking is the great equaliser. You will find out what kind of cook you are when it comes down to it. Are you the gourmet where you have a herb garden outside in the greenhouse? Or are you the baked beans on toast cook? Well, after a while the baked beans on toast will get very old - and believe me, it'll get old very quickly. 

Organise yourself

Organise your day as though you're going out to work. Yes, this is a good way of getting in and working from home, or making it as though you are. We all have a lot of time on our hands now. And there's no better time to get in and take a good look at where your house is at than now. Have you got too many books? Have you got clothes that no longer fit (or you haven't worn in over a year?), are you looking at furniture which you're sick of. Now is the time to look at your finances and start to save up for the new furniture, put away anything you don't want to donate when we're allowed to donate again, and it's time to get in and start looking at how you want your house to look and feel.
This will be a great time to learn new things as well. Get in and work on your garden. Learn how to cook that meal your Grandmother used to cook for those family gatherings you've always wanted to know how to cook. Read that series of books you've had in your bookcase - now it the time because we all have the time.

Get dressed, Show Up.

Yes... that's the ticket! You get up at 7am every morning, get your butt into some every day clothes (no not those boxer shorts you wore yesterday - real clothes from your wardrobe, and not a Halloween costume) and you show up in your kitchen and actually make yourself something to eat, a cup of coffee and look outside. You may be on complete lock down where you're not allowed outside at all, or you can go out into the garden, but you have to get your ass out of bed, out of your pajamas and into your life. 

We're all feeling really ... blah... right now. And it's because we can't see each other, we can't hug our parents or our loved ones. We can't take our friends out to lunch and have a good gossip about everything. But this isn't forever; and we will get through this. And while we're putting up with the crap hand we've been dealt, we can all stand together (at the social distance of 1.5m) and get it that life will go on. 
So, take care of yourself. Get in and work on that great American/Australian/life-long novel/series of paintings/lot of music - whatever you've been meaning to get into - and chill out. I've always been told that my house is my castle... and you know? It's true. And for those of you who are not treating your house as your castle - as your retreat - you're seeing it all wrong. You're seeing your house as a prison, a halfway house, instead of the place you escape to get away from the world. This is how we must see our houses right now - they are our castles, not prisons. We're not trapped at home, we're safe in our castles. 

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