HomeCrazzyHome

Lat night, Boris Johnson announced unprecedented peacetime lockdown measures for the UK. I won’t debate the right or wrongs of that or the timing.

While, as a Transcendentalist who does not believe in either government or religion, I am deeply conflicted about some of those measures and the precedents that they set, I am deeply disappointed in humanity who reckless behavior made such measures necessary. And I remain fearful that it is too late, not just for the country, but for our @HomeCrazzyHome.

The reality is that today much of the country join us as we enter Day 6 of our total self-isolation.

So, how are we doing? What advice would I give others for staying sane in the three weeks ahead for most of you?

We are doing better than many, perhaps most.

While some would accuse me of stockpiling, my hope is that we will all come out the other side of this with a greater appreciation for the necessity of PREPAREDNESS.

Every home, every family, every person needs to have a minimum of one month of non-perishable essentials. Period. I hope we learn this. And slightly more is better.

But now is not the time to do that. There simply is not enough stock in the stores. If you have not prepared already, my hope is that the supply chain self-corrects and people like me will take some of the strain off of it, leaving more for others.

What you can do now though is…

Educate Yourself for the Future

Trust me, I am. It is not easy to get paperback books right now as Amazon and others prioritize as they should essential things, but my Kindle has close to a dozen new mostly gardening ebooks. And YouTube is a viable source of information on many topics. Check back over these posts for my recommendations for:

Virus Updates

Gardening tips

And I would add one more resource: Guildbrook Farm, especially her video on a Prepper pantry, but I also found her canning video useful.

***It has a wealth of info, but I remind you: no one gets everything right. So don’t take everything as gospel, especially from me. And in this case, some of what their content is not my cuppa, especially guns. But rather than miss vital information she does have to share, I recommend simply not watching anything you would find offensive. I have not.

Read

Besides simply the news and gardening/prepper books, read fiction, self-help, history, and other things as well. Those books on your shelves and Kindles are a good place to begin. But don’t forget, you don’t need to leave your house to buy a book. And I would like to plug your indie writers who may be especially struggling right now.

Hobbies

Crochet, sewing, photography, quilting, my dolls, and of course, writing, reading, and gardening are among mine.

You don’t have any you say? I bet you have a long list of things you always wanted to do but never had the time to. Some of those may require purchases you can’t access or afford right now. But you can go back to those first two and educate yourself on the subject, even read up on it.

While us quilters do our absolute best to work our way through that secret stash that our partners said we would never use. But right now, while the goddess grants us good weather, I have abandoned my quilting for a more vital one – gardening. Which leads me to my next point…

Sunshine and Fresh Air

Yes, we are supposed to be self-isolating but that does not necessarily mean we can’t get some of those. The UK’s guidelines specifically allow for the importance of these (at least until some people abuse it). While we are extreme self-isolation, even then we get out into our front and back yards daily (except for @PanKwake vampire).

Home Improvements

All those projects big and small that you have been meaning to do – now is your time. You probably even have the supplies for some of them laying around that you bought but never got around to. Oh, and if you get stuck on how to do it, then YouTube it. We have a long list, of course, but right now that garden is number 1.

Exercise

The gyms may be closed and your ability to go on long walks restricted but there are other options. Videos on, you guessed it, YouTube (no, I am not sponsored by them). Pilates, yoga, and simply weights using those tins of food are all good options even on days when it rains.

Learn Something New

I gave some of my favorite options for this before, but Coursera and FutureLearn are both free. The Great Courses, which is my favorite, is not free but it is one of the best investments I ever made.

Trust me, you can fill your day so full of those things that you won’t have time for too much worry or depression. It does sneak in, but then I go off to the next thing on my list. And at the end of the day, you will collapse into bed exhausted, fulfilled, and at peace. Yes, I said at peace.

But to accomplish that there are some things you need to avoid as well. 

News

Yes, we need information. Accurate information. I recommend you find reliable sources you feel meets your needs, check those in the morning and at night (not too close to bedtime). Even then, it is too easy to follow bread crumbs right down the rabbit hole of information overload. Don’t. Set a timer of fifteen or twenty minutes, scan the headlines, and read the most important ones only.

Social Media

Yes, it is brilliant for staying in touch with friends and family. Checking in on everyone. But it is also full of misinformation, despair, and whining. I have not had Facebook in over a year. Right now I kinda wish I did, I think. But even my Twitter has become a bit of a burden. So, as with the news I limit it to once or twice a day of checking in with those I consider friends.

Television

Please, please turn off Netflix. Binge-watching with junk food is not as healthy either physically or mentally as the other options I suggested. Substitute reading instead, it is better for you mentally. Having said that, when you’re ill, television can be the only thing besides sleep that you can manage. I discovered Philippa Gregory that way by binge-watching The Spanish Princess, it inspired me to give her books that I always ignored a chance. I’m glad I did.

In our @HomeCrazzyHome that is potentially facing a much longer (four months) self-isolation than the three-week lockdown that is mandatory, we are each dealing with it to varying degrees.

@PanKwake who is extroverted has adopted a sleep all day, up all night schedule, and watches, you guessed it again, YouTube videos. So, far she is holding in there pretty well, but then again, she always said that in a zombie apocalypse she’d adjust.

While my greatest concern and the reason behind our total self-isolation is Alan, he seems healthy, so far. I will breath easier (pun intended) in a couple of weeks once we have cleared the incubation period from before we self-isolated. Oh, and he is planning and building more trains. We are even putting one in his new bathroom.

As for me, when I stay off social media and limit the news, I do wonderfully. I do drop a bit slightly after doing those, but I move on to other things and bounce back quickly. Honestly, if not for worrying about Alan and others, I have never been happier. The quiet streets, fewer peopling obligations, and slower pace agree with my extreme introvert. I asked Alan the other day if I could self-isolate for the rest of my life. unfortunately, the answer was no. But there are elements of this, lessons I have learned, that I will take with me beyond these trying times. Things I will do differently in the future.

And that is my final point. Perhaps the most crucial activity that we can all engage in right now is:

Self-Reflection

In our modern, hubristic, greed-driven, world of consumption and convenience, few of us have time for this art that has been left to philosophers, priests, and mystics. Yet, it is a skill set that will serve us all well in the world that will emerge after this. Or at least the one that I hope will.

Until then, goddess bless and keep you each and every one,
From our @HomeCrazzyHome to yours