A blog of her own

Telling it like it is

  • Home
  • Start Here
  • About
  • Share your story
  • Hire Me
    • Speaking
  • Privacy
  • Contact

Coronavirus diaries – How to keep calm and carry on

20 March 2020 By Dorothy 1 Comment

I could make this short and sweet and simply write “plenty of alcohol and valium”. But that is neither sustainable nor healthy, so even though I have had a few more glasses of wine than usual and a tablet or two of valium at peak anxiety times, they are not my main coping strategies.

What has been really helping is keeping busy. The adrenaline and cortisol fueling my anxiety have been pushing me to do things, so I’ve been doing them. Not necessarily terribly helpful things, like making the kitchen sparkling, but I have put some of our excess Lego up for sale, have folded, packed and donated two bags of my kids’ clothing and have dug out one of my long-forgotten craft projects ready to finish.

Clearly, I have also been blogging more and even created a recipe post for you. There are more where that one came from, so stay tuned.

Now all I need to add to my To Do list is some content creation for my business. I’ve been doing Facebook lives all over the place, but not doing enough writing, so that’s also on the agenda.

If you’re not a business person, like me, then now is the perfect time to take up a new hobby or return to an old forgotten one. Assuming you’re not busy working, looking after small children or homeschooling older ones. One of my teenagers is too anxious to attend school right now, but he’s got work from his teachers to do, so I intend for that to keep him busy until the school holidays start. I threaten him with taking him to school, whenever I see him starting to goof off.

Another thing that helps my anxiety, even during normal times is crochet. I find that it keeps my hands busy while I watch TV and stops me from constantly looking at my phone. And I get to make beautiful things. There are so many things you can make from blankets and throws, to shawls, dresses and even toys. If you’ve never crocheted or have forgotten how, I highly recommend the Crochet Crowd and Bella Coco on YouTube for great beginner tutorials.

Have I shown you my new craft space? Here it is:

I added a foldable trestle table to the end of my work desk and voila! Art and craft space. So far, I’ve only used it to play with some oil pastels, but at least I no longer have an excuse not to let my creative side out. I will set up my beading project on it next.

Another sensible piece of advice I heard is to get out in nature and let it calm your nervous system. You can do this by going for a walk in some bushland, or a park, sitting in your back yard, if you have one, or even looking out of your window onto some trees. I accidentally went to our local Botanical Gardens this week to see the display of begonias left behind from the Ballarat Begonia Festival that happens each year.

If you’re a regular or lapsed meditator, meditation can help you to calm your thoughts and body, as well as make sleep easier to come by. But I read somewhere that starting meditation in these anxious times is not a good idea as your anxious mind might be just too anxious to train right now.

I would, however, recommend apps such as Smiling Mind and Headspace for short meditations that will help you get out of your head for short periods of relief from the anxious mind chatter.

Another fabulous strategy which helps me enormously with any anxiety-provoking situation, such as job interviews, difficult meetings or appointments, or anything else that you’re dreading, is time travel. Yes, you read that right – time travel. I simply imagine the moment immediately after the unpleasant event is over in as much detail as I can.

So for example, if it’s a meeting or an interview, I will imagine the moments right after it’s finished. I will visualise closing the door on the way out, walking along the corridor, riding down in the lift, walking out the building, walking down to my car, maybe taking myself out for coffee, etc. Actually, planning something nice for immediately after the unpleasant situation you’re about to face is also a great strategy.

Try thinking about what the world will be like after this pandemic is over. How will have things changed, if at all? Will employers become more comfortable with staff working from home and generally with more flexible work arrangements? How will the economy have changed? How will your neighbourhood have changed? What difference will months of homeschooling have had on your family?

Or simply imagine what it will be like when everything goes back to normal. Because it will. It is inevitable that this will become just a blip in our history books, a few crazy months in our lives and then things will return to normal.

Personally, I find it fascinating to speculate about what the world will look like post coronavirus, but I suspect it will look remarkably like it did before. Humans are like a tsunami, nothing can stop them for long. As much as I love seeing what a complete lockdown can do for a country’s pollution levels, I know we won’t change our ways. Governments and industry won’t change anything. So if it helps you to imagine that the world will return to its relative normality, use your visualisation powers to do that, at least at the scale of your family and your home.

How are you coping with the coronavirus anxiety? Are your kids home, or still at school? Has your workplace gone on lockdown like mine and are you working from home?

Tell me how you’re getting on in the comments below.


signature

If you liked this, share:

  • Print
  • Email
  • Tweet

Related

Previous Post Next Post

I've been blogging since 2008 and I do it because it keeps me sane.If I didn't blog, my head would explode. If you like your blogs sugar-coated and pretty looking then this is not for you. I write about life as a solo parent dealing with mental illness and recovering from long term emotional abuse. I live with two boy-children and three cats and I like wine. A lot.

Comments

  1. mel146 says

    20 March 2020 at 10:49 pm

    My daughter is in Yr 12 and impatiently waiting for school to shut down lol. They tried out having class by Skype today which seemed to work well, so she can’t wait to be home. She thinks it is just a matter of time.

    My company has sent all office-based staff to work from home…. except no one bothered to contact MY office, so there’s that. There’s so many empty offices that if needed my office-mate and I can be in completely different rooms. It’s pretty difficult for our particular roles to be done from home. Plus I don’t really have the infrastructure to work from home. And I’m too easily distracted lol

    I’ll be happy when I can stroll into Woolies and buy some tp without having to think about it. Otherwise, I’m just rolling with it. There’s not much I can do, so I’m just trying to lay low and not stress. Digging out the crochet sounds like a good idea!

    Reply

I love comments! Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About Me

I am a truth talker, opinion owner, feminist, solo parent, business owner and cat minion.

I write about whatever's in my head, because it's cheaper, and more effective, than therapy.

Support my blog

Become a Patron!

Join me on Facebook

Join me on Facebook

Follow me on Twitter

Follow me!

I use and recommend

Web Hosting

Most Popular

  • I hate being a mother - a five step rescue plan
    I hate being a mother - a five step rescue plan
  • I hate being a mother
    I hate being a mother
  • Dorothy's Table: Polish pork rissoles
    Dorothy's Table: Polish pork rissoles
  • My kids make me anxious
    My kids make me anxious
  • The Seven Habits of Highly Sociopathic Husbands
    The Seven Habits of Highly Sociopathic Husbands

My Instagram

Celebration cheesecake and selfies from the celebr Celebration cheesecake and selfies from the celebration dinner.

#celebration #newjob #cheesecake #selfie
This is what celebration looks like. Plus a chocol This is what celebration looks like. Plus a chocolate cheesecake, plus a dinner out. So good to finally have this weight off my shoulders.

In a few weeks, I will be finally working full time in Geelong and living close to the beach.

Cheers!
I am the mother of an 18 year old. It's been a har I am the mother of an 18 year old. It's been a hard slog, but we made it. Two celebrations this week, one complete with an autistic shutdown. Thank goodness for NDIS funding to help with the transition to adulthood.
Pav for a BBQ I'm going to in a bit. One day I mig Pav for a BBQ I'm going to in a bit. One day I might even make one from scratch like @cateppics
Sam and I went to see a couple of houses in Geelon Sam and I went to see a couple of houses in Geelong today and in between we visited Eastern Beach. It's like a little St Kilda, without the cake shops. Or at least we didn't find any.

This house hunting business is exhausting, when you have to travel so far. Three more trips next week. At least Sam is proving to be a fun companion.
Said goodbye to this old dear today. In our family Said goodbye to this old dear today. In our family since my older son was born. Drove him home from the hospital in it  pretty much straight from the showroom.

It stopped being reliable for me a while ago, due to lack of care, due to lack of money. Now off to another family and another life.
3 generations. Christmas 2020. 3 generations. Christmas 2020.
Two key ingredients for poppyseed strudel -a Polis Two key ingredients for poppyseed strudel -a Polish Christmas tradition. Poppyseed stuffing and the dough, ready to rise.

What are your must have Christmas foods?

Michael Buble is playing in the background.  Christmas how I like it.

#christmas #polishcooking #polishchristmas #makowiec #christmastraditions #christmasfood #polishchristmasfood
Follow on Instagram

More on…

  • ASD (7)
  • Blogging (44)
  • Children (43)
  • Domestic Violence (14)
  • Feminism (1)
  • Life (95)
  • Mental Health (167)
  • Recipe (2)
  • Reviews & Giveaways (17)
  • Sole Parenting (439)
  • Travel (10)
  • Uncategorized (18)

Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address to receive new posts in your inbox.

I learnt to run with…

Copyright 2020 A blog of her own. Designed by Dorothy K Consulting
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.