When people are down on the world, politics, or something else that affects us all, I often tell them that I have to keep my head in my writing, my sewing, and my creativity otherwise I wouldn’t get out of bed in the morning. While I am aware of things that are happening around me– probably more so than most because I read two daily newspapers– I have found that getting in too deep affects my mental health.
That’s why I have stayed out of the corona virus posts– I have my own stories of what has transpired in the past few weeks in my own life and what’s been upended, but I don’t believe posting any of that is useful. I also am finding myself this morning (it’s Monday morning as I write this), feeling a little depressed.
It’s going to be a beautiful day here in Albuquerque and I ran and ran the dogs before the came up over the mountains. I have plenty to do, especially given that between the virus and Hattie’s death, I’m behind on what I should have completed last week.
But I also have found over the last week or so my inability to stop checking the news, particularly because once Thursday when the first cases were announced here in New Mexico, everything also was breaking loose nationally and things were literally changing every five minutes.
It’s made it difficult for me to write, to focus, although I found I can sew okay and if that’s the case, I need to get my “desk work” done” and move to the “sweat shop” and keep myself away from newsfeeds. There’s nothing wrong with it; it’s about keeping myself sane as I had thought I was settling into my still-unkown future since my job ended a month ago. I had things planned and now as I face not knowing if they will happen, I need to keep creating and make use of this time. And reminding myself that all is well as old game shows play on the Buzzr television station on my iPad in the background.
The bottom line is that while I’m not happy about things, I also know there has to be something I can do during this time that will help me feel better. And that’s to keep creating. And be ready for what I hope will be a successful Chelle Summer year ahead.