Slowing down. After a solid 135 days of posting every day about my quarantine experiences, I finally hit a wall. I realized that the “Groundhog Day” nature of this experience was making me repeat myself in my daily posts. I also began to feel a strange obligation to post – and that made me anxious. …
Members of the TLTeam let us into their worlds during this time of social distancing.
Sparkling Isolation – Day 135
To be or not to be. I had a strange emotional day yesterday – so strange in fact, that I was utterly exhausted by it and went to bed at 8:30 p.m. This morning, I woke up at 8:30 a.m. almost precisely. Rarely do I sleep for twelve full hours, but last night my sleep …
Sparkling Isolation – Day 134
Power failure. This morning I had a unique quarantine experience – a power failure in my neighborhood. About 8 a.m. I heard a loud pop and the electricity abruptly went out. I recognized the sound of an exploding transformer – something that you always know when you hear it. It only took me about five …
Sparkling Isolation – Day 133
The need to know. I have always had an obsession with definitions – the ability to know what something means and by extension the ability to put a label on things. That also includes labeling how I feel. My therapist – and countless self-help books over the years – have reminded me (and keep reminding …
Sparkling Isolation – Day 132
A musical interlude. Some days, I run across a song that says what I’m thinking far more eloquently than I could. One of my new favorite bands is an amazing group called The Arcadian Wild. If you haven’t discovered their music, I highly recommend looking them up. This time in quarantine has given me a …
Sparkling Isolation – Day 131
I don’t have a thing to wear. The struggle is real. I have plenty of clothes, but every day I struggle with the thought, “Why bother?” The only thing that seems to keep me wearing decent clothes is the fact that I have seemingly-endless online meetings. Of course, that means that most of the time …
Sparkling Isolation – Day 130
Inside looking out. Today I spent another entire today inside my apartment without once stepping outside. The weather was sunny, a bit hot and humid but not unbearable. There was no specific excuse for my hibernation today. It just never occurred to me to leave the house. That bothers me. Before the pandemic, I would …
Sparkling Isolation – Day 129
Decluttering. I have long been a fan of decluttering. Back in the 90s I trained to become a Feng Shui consultant and worked professionally as one for a number of years. In the past decade I have read and implemented many ideas related to minimalism, the joy of “less” and most recently the KonMari method …
Sparkling Isolation – Day 128
Pong. Anyone of a certain age will remember the original Atari video game – Pong. It was released in 1972, but I think my first copy of it was a Christmas gift in 1975. That was a big deal back then! I mean, the whole concept of an interactive video game was new and exciting. …
Diary of a Cockeyed Optimist: I’m not fine. But I will be.
I went to the doctor for what I thought would be a routine checkup. Not that I would recognize a routine checkup if I saw one. I hadn’t been to a doctor (except for two emergency room visits, one after being mugged and one after falling off a racing camel. Now that’s a story for …
Diary of a Cockeyed Optimist: I’m not fine. But I will be.Read More
Sparkling Isolation – Day 127
Pendulum swings. Yesterday I focused on gratitude – the need to stop and pay attention to things that are going well in my life. I continue to do that. At the same time, today has been a typical example of my swings during this pandemic. Yesterday, my pendulum swung into a more positive and thoughtful …
Sparkling Isolation – Day 126
Gratitude. In the midst of struggle, I often lose sight of things that are right in front of my face. I spiral into dark places and begin to feel that old negativity bias firing up and getting ready to lead me off into places best left behind. Today, I woke up with a hint of …