joyful2beeblogs

We are all under strange and varied circumstances. This is uncharted territory for most of us. How are you handling spending a large part of your day at home? What are you doing to keep your sanity? Do you have children? Are you by yourself? Please let me know in the comments if you like. If you want to keep it private, say so and I will not post it.

I have always been a happy person who could roll with the punches of life. I went through an abusive marriage and a sick husband who needed my help and care. And managed to maintain a large or at least medium amount of my sanity. But this Covid virus is getting to me at times.

Voluntarily I have isolated myself, as have many of you, as much as possible, to protect myself and to protect others as well. Since anyone, including me could unknowingly have even a very mild or asympotomatic case of Covid 19 and be contagious.

Since I am almost 69 years young I am a senior citizen so I take extra care to protect myself. My housekeeper gets my groceries instead of monthly cleaning the house. But I do forget or run out of items and with mask on go to the nearby grocery store.

How do you spend your days? Do you have hobbies or read or paint? I write these blog posts when I can focus well enough. I have felt rather unfocused and unable to do a lot mentally at times, which I have read is a side effect of the times we are in. But I wanted to reach out to any of you who wanted to share what’s going on in your life now. How are you adapting? Keeping sane, focused or at least content?

I found that a routine is a good thing. It gives a bit of security in unsettling times. So after I feed my cat, Norie and let her out on the screened in porch, I eat my breakfast while finding great inspiration, knowledge, delight, and joy by watching YouTube in the morning. You can teach yourself how to do anytthing on YouTube: Belly dance, tango, paint, fix a scratch on your car, whatever! For about an hour I enjoy a variety of videos on YouTube.

Eckhart Tolle is a fascinating speaker on spirituality. For equally enlightening listening I enjoy Fr. Richard Rohr and his uplifting messages. Also TED Talks has collections of speeches on every subject imaginable about our minds and lives.

Then I catch skits and excerpts from the old Carol Burnette Show, especially the ones with Tim Conway and Harvey Korman. I still laugh watching those two together. James Corden and other comedic excerpts from shows recent and past, all help get me going. If this doesn’t make you laugh nothing will. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF_C3bO8WZ0

Often I talk with one or two of my Facebook friends whom I enjoy catching up with every few days. During the morning or posssibly better, the afternoon, remember to call your elderly friends who may be home bound or isolated because of the Covid 19 virus. The days can be very long with no spouse or family nearby.

Before Covid I ran around every few days shopping, looking in stores, visiting with friends, eating lunch out in a restaurant. But now I generally pick up food for lunch or supper and bring it home to eat. On rare occasions I eat lunch with a friend at a restaurant which has outdoor seating or socially distanced tables. I go during off hours so there are even fewer people than during lunch hour.

I have plenty of clothes so I really don’t need to shop except I do miss the colors, fabrics, people, interesting items on the shelves and just being somewhere different from my home. I also run errands like taking the recycleables to the recycle center. I sometimes order what I need with Amazon.

The rest of the day has many possibilities. Before the day gets too hot or while it’s cooler in the late afternoon, I try to walk around the 0.2 mile parking lots between my building and one up the hill. Exercise, especially walking, is good.

While walking I started a new hobby which you may enjoy. I use my cell phone to take pictures of birds and leaves of trees and look them up on phone apps for bird song identification as well as tree and bush leaf identification. It helps make me feel connected to nature to know who the trees and birds are.

I also go through my belongings, jewelry and closets. If I haven’t worn or used something in a long time, or if it doesn’t “bring me joy” I donate it. There are plenty of other people who could use it or may want it. Decrease the clutter and simplify your life.

During the hot part of day and bedtime I sometimes watch several shows that I enjoy and learn from. Watching “Queer Eye” is so inspiring and I love how the 5 gay guys help people. They teach them to understand why they still live with their parents at 35; never clean up their home; dress in styles that died out years ago; have taken no care of themselves; have poor self-esteem, or who are gay and are afraid of being judged.

They help these people with so much love and compassion that I often learn something that applies to my own self image or attitude. They give makeovers to the one chosen, fixing: their hair, make-up, clothes, home, their attitude and even their cooking skills.

I have a cat, Norie, who entertains, provides therapy when necessary by making me laugh, inspires me to photograph her, and snuggles behind my knees at night. Norie also gives me exercise by letting me know when it is time to put food in her bowl (or freshen up the wet food with some water when it has been out for more than two hours!). So I HAVE to go fix her food appropriately, which gets me up out of the recliner.

Remember to meditate and let God know how you are. One important thing to do is to remember all that you and your body have been through and be kind to it. And be thankful you are still alive, that you have what you need. A thankful heart helps much towards increasing the joy of each day.