I have to confess, I have been through my fair share of “this, too, shall pass” moments. Granted, none of them have felt quite like this, but most of them did happen around this time of year. I got sick with meningitis at the end of February. My mom died at the end of March. And I was let out of the hospital after being diagnosed with diabetes on April 1. I have adopted April Fool’s Day as my diagnosis date. Seems appropriate, somehow. Every year I get through this time of year unscathed is a “this, too, shall pass” moment that has passed.
Dwelling on things we can’t control never helped anything (assuming we are all practicing social distancing and following other CDC guidelines). So, while economic, social, and medical catastrophe closes in, maybe we can search for some silver linings.
The serious:
Diabetes care. Working from home allows me much more time to rebuild the diabetes regimen I lost years ago to a work issue. I have all the tools I need at home to more closely track blood sugar patterns, what is causing them, and how extreme the peaks and valleys are. It gives me more time for meal planning, and most importantly, I have no excuse to not exercise when I can repurpose my commute time.
Refinancing my home. I only started paying a mortgage in October, and I got a pretty good rate, but the financial markets are driving interest rates even lower. If I can come up with the closing costs, it could save me tens of thousands of dollars.
More catching up with friends and loved ones. I can go months without seeing friends, even the ones who live 15 minutes away. And, while we may not be able to see each other in person, platforms like Zoom, Gmail Hangouts, WhatsApp, and even your regular phone app allow video calling options. For me, increased worry and anxiety, especially over my high risk loved ones, has increased my need to at least check in more often. It helps that I am no longer at the mercy of the cube farm to take personal calls.
The unserious ones
More time outside. When I bought my condo last year, I purposely made my balcony into an outdoor oasis, knowing that it was going to be a long time before I could update anything else. I haven’t gotten to use it as much as I would like, partly because of winter, and partly because going to work 40 hours a week (not including my commute) just didn’t allow for more than an hour a day when the weather was nice. Now I can spend as much time on the balcony as I want. Well, maybe after I get a signal booster so I have strong wifi out there, but that isn’t a real barrier.
Pajama day every day! Not really, but at least casual, comfortable clothes every day. If we have to deal with our conditions without the daily distraction of an outside life, we might as well be comfortable. Along those same lines, I can forego socks and stockings, too. I hate wearing them when I don’t have to, and now I can go barefoot or wear sandals all the time.
Unhurried showers. By unhurried, I mean longer than four minutes. In my head, every minute I am delayed to work is an extra minute I have to stay, so lately, showers have been four minutes, maybe seven if I wash my hair. Being home lifts the requirement to stay anywhere other than where I am already, so no big deal if I take a few extra minutes to enjoy it. Especially if I am exercising every day.
Growing out my hair. When I was a kid, I had long thick hair. In fourth grade, my mother made the mistake of letting me take over the brushing. It hurt, so I only brushed the top. No one could tell, but by the time my mom figured it out, the knots underneath were so bad, they had to be cut out at the root. I cried every day for two weeks. It was never the same. Ever since, I have kept as long as I could get away with. It’s baby fine, so after a while it gets too heavy for itself, and I get it cut. Social distancing does not allow me to get it cut right now, so I guess I am going to find out how it looks all grown out for the first time since fourth grade.
I hope you are all feeling ok and remain moderately sane, especially those quarantined with their small children. I know it’s really hard to change life so drastically, and it will probably last for several more weeks. We always miss what we can’t have, but the alternative is so much worse, especially for us who are, by definition, high risk. We will make it through this. Looking for the silver linings, even the small ones, will help.