Well, here I am again posting from my house. I've left my neighborhood two times since since March 16th. It's tough being home this much - but I am not an essential worker, so I am lucky I don't have to leave the house and I try not to. We are having groceries delivered, we are cooking a whole lot and we are ordering from Amazon (probably too much). Now we finally have a "shelter in place" order as directed by our governor. Took him long enough to put it into place.
I have to admit ~ I was pretty down last Thursday. I think everyone is going to have up and down moments and Thursday was a big downer for me. I took a walk around the neighborhood with Briana that afternoon to try to lift my spirits...
It was a gorgeous day ~ blue skies, perfect temperature, slight breeze, flowers blooming. It's hard to believe that there is a horrible invisible virus floating around able to make people so very sick.
When I hear the stories of perfectly healthy people dying because this virus got a hold of them, I am able to handle this physical distancing stuff a lot better.
And I am going to start calling what we are doing "physical distancing" and not "social distancing" because we can still stay connected without seeing one another in person. It can be done. We just have to be patient and think about protecting our loved ones and those who are most vulnerable.
Ok...
I am going to step on a bit of a soapbox again and give my two cents about some things I've observed about this pandemic. Some of you may not agree with me and that is ok, but I'm gonna have my say anyway (feel free to read or skip ahead - my "soapbox" is in italics).
I've never been this vocal with my opinion in my entire life. It does scare me putting my thoughts out there because people with differing opinions can sometimes be judgemental and cruel. But, my frustration is bubbling over and blogging my thoughts helps ease my stress...
I've never been this vocal with my opinion in my entire life. It does scare me putting my thoughts out there because people with differing opinions can sometimes be judgemental and cruel. But, my frustration is bubbling over and blogging my thoughts helps ease my stress...
I'm going to do this in bullet points...
* If our top officials had not downplayed this virus for so long, then maybe we could have avoided just how nasty this pandemic has become in the USA. And yes, the president and his administration downplayed it for weeks. There is proof all over the place including direct tweets.
* The Georgia governor downplayed it too. And now we finally have a shelter in place order after Kemp “just found out it could be spread though asymptomatic people” - um, it’s been a known fact for months. Except in GA I'm realizing now, shelter in place doesn't mean all that much. People can still go to beaches, state parks and churches as long as they continue to practice physical distancing. You know, because we are all so good at that.
* Trumps biggest talking point - he restricted travel from China. Well, he did and he didn't. He still allowed American citizens to fly to the U.S. from China as well as immediate family of U.S. citizens and permanent residents after the “ban” was put in place. The virus doesn’t give a crap if you are an American citizen or a Chinese national. So technically, the virus was still able to enter our country. Besides, the virus was here already when the restriction was set. We should have focused not only on trying to keep this beast from continuing to enter our country but also on sheltering in place to stop the spread within our borders from the beginning.
* The economy - yes, the economy is very important. I know that. My heart breaks for those struggling. But this virus was going to tank the economy no matter what. That is what global pandemics do - they mess up everything in every way, shape and form. In my opinion, if this virus had been taken seriously from the start and all the measures that are now having to be put into place (begrudgingly by some) had been put into place weeks ago, we could have possibly gotten a hold of this sooner. Less people sick, dying and spreading disease. THAT would have helped our economy. We are now doing the slow bleed instead of just ripping off the band-aid and dealing with the wound head on. This is going to take longer to fix now - medically, economically and emotionally. And we definitely need a vaccine as soon as possible (but it will take at least a year).
* I do think we need some sort of national organization regarding all of this stay at home stuff because it’s just going to cause the virus to continue to slowly spread all over if every state is just doing whatever the heck it wants to. And having states bid against each other for medical equipment is counterproductive. We all need to be on the same page NOW so we can eradicate this health crisis quicker and get our lives (including our economy) back.
* What do we do now? Look forward. Buckle down at home for a while longer - until we are over the peak of this (this is supposed to be a BAD week for numbers in the U.S.) Hope the government can continue to play catch up somehow. Try to support businesses as best we can while continuing to truly physical distance. Encourage and praise our essential workers to keep going and stay strong. Pray we can get back to our normal lives as soon as possible. The damage is done now - nothing we can do by looking back.
* Doug always tells me try to focus on myself and not to worry about what anyone else thinks or does. He’s right for the most part. But in this case unfortunately, other people’s decisions are keeping me away from my friends, family and my normal life longer than I want to be. And that just sucks.
And that is my two cents.
Ok now that I've said that, I feel better - sort of.
There is a lot of "positiveness" floating around right now - which is great. People are trying to see the silver linings in things, there are uplifting news stories and funny videos all over television and the internet, lots of "games" and "challenges" are floating around on FB, etc. I'm just not feeling it right now. I don't really feel like watching or reading anything super positive because I can't seem to get into it. I watch "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist," "The Voice," and "The Masked Singer" with Briana in the evenings. It's time that she and I (and Doug) get to spend together, but I'm finding it difficult for me to really concentrate sometimes though. Life just feels so weird. (I will say "Tiger King" did keep my interest this past week. Scary but true. It was a total train wreck I couldn't look away from. It was comforting watching people 1000 times crazier than me. Heh.)
And the funny thing about anxiety...anxiety is something I felt on a daily basis in my regular life, and now everyone is feeling it. That feeling of uncertainty, dread, helplessness, restlessness - that was/is my normal. I'm always bracing for the worst things to happen. I can say a pandemic ranks up there as one of the worst things. I've preparing for this for a very long time.
So, that is my post for now. Not a super positive one, huh? Sorry about that. I'm kind of a "glass half empty" type of person on a normal day and I'm a work in progress about it. Hopefully my next post will be more upbeat. I'm going to aim for that. I promise that I am trying.
And just a quick reminder in closing...
Stay safe everyone.
* If our top officials had not downplayed this virus for so long, then maybe we could have avoided just how nasty this pandemic has become in the USA. And yes, the president and his administration downplayed it for weeks. There is proof all over the place including direct tweets.
* The Georgia governor downplayed it too. And now we finally have a shelter in place order after Kemp “just found out it could be spread though asymptomatic people” - um, it’s been a known fact for months. Except in GA I'm realizing now, shelter in place doesn't mean all that much. People can still go to beaches, state parks and churches as long as they continue to practice physical distancing. You know, because we are all so good at that.
* Trumps biggest talking point - he restricted travel from China. Well, he did and he didn't. He still allowed American citizens to fly to the U.S. from China as well as immediate family of U.S. citizens and permanent residents after the “ban” was put in place. The virus doesn’t give a crap if you are an American citizen or a Chinese national. So technically, the virus was still able to enter our country. Besides, the virus was here already when the restriction was set. We should have focused not only on trying to keep this beast from continuing to enter our country but also on sheltering in place to stop the spread within our borders from the beginning.
* The economy - yes, the economy is very important. I know that. My heart breaks for those struggling. But this virus was going to tank the economy no matter what. That is what global pandemics do - they mess up everything in every way, shape and form. In my opinion, if this virus had been taken seriously from the start and all the measures that are now having to be put into place (begrudgingly by some) had been put into place weeks ago, we could have possibly gotten a hold of this sooner. Less people sick, dying and spreading disease. THAT would have helped our economy. We are now doing the slow bleed instead of just ripping off the band-aid and dealing with the wound head on. This is going to take longer to fix now - medically, economically and emotionally. And we definitely need a vaccine as soon as possible (but it will take at least a year).
* I do think we need some sort of national organization regarding all of this stay at home stuff because it’s just going to cause the virus to continue to slowly spread all over if every state is just doing whatever the heck it wants to. And having states bid against each other for medical equipment is counterproductive. We all need to be on the same page NOW so we can eradicate this health crisis quicker and get our lives (including our economy) back.
* What do we do now? Look forward. Buckle down at home for a while longer - until we are over the peak of this (this is supposed to be a BAD week for numbers in the U.S.) Hope the government can continue to play catch up somehow. Try to support businesses as best we can while continuing to truly physical distance. Encourage and praise our essential workers to keep going and stay strong. Pray we can get back to our normal lives as soon as possible. The damage is done now - nothing we can do by looking back.
* Doug always tells me try to focus on myself and not to worry about what anyone else thinks or does. He’s right for the most part. But in this case unfortunately, other people’s decisions are keeping me away from my friends, family and my normal life longer than I want to be. And that just sucks.
And that is my two cents.
There is a lot of "positiveness" floating around right now - which is great. People are trying to see the silver linings in things, there are uplifting news stories and funny videos all over television and the internet, lots of "games" and "challenges" are floating around on FB, etc. I'm just not feeling it right now. I don't really feel like watching or reading anything super positive because I can't seem to get into it. I watch "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist," "The Voice," and "The Masked Singer" with Briana in the evenings. It's time that she and I (and Doug) get to spend together, but I'm finding it difficult for me to really concentrate sometimes though. Life just feels so weird. (I will say "Tiger King" did keep my interest this past week. Scary but true. It was a total train wreck I couldn't look away from. It was comforting watching people 1000 times crazier than me. Heh.)
And the funny thing about anxiety...anxiety is something I felt on a daily basis in my regular life, and now everyone is feeling it. That feeling of uncertainty, dread, helplessness, restlessness - that was/is my normal. I'm always bracing for the worst things to happen. I can say a pandemic ranks up there as one of the worst things. I've preparing for this for a very long time.
So, that is my post for now. Not a super positive one, huh? Sorry about that. I'm kind of a "glass half empty" type of person on a normal day and I'm a work in progress about it. Hopefully my next post will be more upbeat. I'm going to aim for that. I promise that I am trying.
And just a quick reminder in closing...
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