Hello Everyone,

I want to spend some time sharing some things that I am doing to keep my sanity while spending most of my time at home due to Covid-19 and the stipulations our government has put into place to protect us.

First, people reacted with panic, rushing to the stores and buying up all the toilet paper, paper towels, Clorox, and other items they could get their hands on. It was worse than Y2K. Either the panic has calmed, or because the stores have gotten a better handle on things and are limiting quantities of certain things people can buy, things are better in he grocery stores.

Now our government has shut down many, many businesses, allowing only “life-sustaining” businesses to continue operation. Grocery stores and any type of business related to the medical field are still operating. Even restaurants are operating on a “drive-thru” or “takeout only” basis. We are not currently free to meet friends at a coffee shop or go out with friends and family to dine in a restaurant. We have been told to remain at home as much as possible. Some people are fighting against this idea as well, saying things like, “the government can’t tell me what to do”.

I, however, choose to listen to what my government is asking. I may not agree with everything, but I do understand they are trying to keep us safe and prevent more deaths than necessary to this virus.

It is not easy to be housebound for the most part. I enjoy getting together with my friends as much as anyone, but I also do not want to become sick and need hospitalization or worse. I have been in the hospital for things in the past, and, though I am grateful that we have good hospitals with good medical staff, where I can get good care when necessary, I don’t want to deliberately that may land me in the hospital.

So, what am I doing to keep busy and not lose my head or become depressed?

1. I am enjoying reading. I have so many wonderful books that have been waiting for me to pick them up and get lost in their pages.
2. I am participating in online writing activities. Reedsy is a great site for writers and they recently offered an online “write-in” where three of their employees appeared live on youtube to lead three writing sprints. It was a lot of fun and made me feel less isolated because I could see these three people and listen to them talk and see them write for a little over an hour.
3.  I signed up to take a self-paced flash fiction course, which I am enjoying. I have been writing flash fiction here on my blog on Fridays for quite some time, but I’m always looking for ways to improve my writing.
4. I also signed up for a webinar that will take place next month. Sadly, so many things have been canceled due to Covid-19, but one of the speakers who was scheduled to speak at a writer’s conference I was registered to attend next month, has decided to teach one of the seminars he was to teach at the conference online. I am thrilled to be able to still have access to this seminar!
5. I spend time each day on Twitter interacting with the #Writing Community.
6. I watch a movie a couple nights a week.
7. I play games with my son or the family.
8. I am working on revising my WIP, I am writing posts for this blog, my critique partner and I continue to critique for each other via email on a biweekly basis.
9. We, as a family, watch our pastor preach on Sunday mornings on the internet. He will also be doing a Wednesday morning Bible study, and our associate pastor is doing a couple devotion times each week. This helps us to stay in God’s word and helps to keep our faith strong and to know that God is in control of all this, and we will be fine, and we will get through this.

Something I don’t do is spend too much time on Facebook or watching a lot of news. I do not want to hear about Covid-19 and all of the rumors all day long. I only want to hear the stuff of importance and the truth, which can be hard to determine, but I don’t want to dwell on the situation, for that only brings feelings of unease, concern, and worry — things I don’t need and that won’t help me during this time.

So, what about you? What are you doing during this difficult time as we all wait for this Covid-19 to pass?