10 Self-Isolation Things I’ve Loved

This month’s 10 things I loved looks different. I consider it an honor and a privilege that the greatest way I can help humankind is by staying home. I’m not being called to fight in a war. I’m being called to slightly minimize my life. Did I feel this way the first week I was WFM? Absolutely not. I was going insane. But a few days later, I realized what an incredible opportunity I have been given. When else does life give us time? For the rest of my life I (hopefully) will never given a gift to rest and personal productivity as much as now. This gift has its ups and downs, plenty of emotions and a lot of uncertainty, but this blog post, like all of mine, I hope makes you feel a little less alone.

Line Dancing and Shania Twain

First off, there’s a lot of weird interests that are popping up through all of this. You may have noticed #ShaniaCovid on my Instagram. It started during the first week of WFH and general panic. I needed something I could do without thinking. I somehow also at this time discovered Shania Twain for the first time in my life. It was from there that I started sharing really dumb videos of me learning line dancing from YouTube. I spent hours watching, rewinding and mindlessly practicing. It’s a weird love but it’s a weird time.

If you want to re-live or see for the first time (like me) her 2019 AMA ICONIC performance, check it out here.

IG Live Workouts

My friend Gabrielle turned into onto Ryan Heffington. An incredible, award-winning choreographer that just celebrates moving your body. He does workouts M-F at 12 pm CST (most days) and 2 pm on the weekends. You will sweat. You will be surprisingly sore when done. But your spirit will be high and NOTHING can bring you down. I have forced my friends at one point to watch this even if they can’t workout with us.

Beauty Treatments

I, like everyone else I think, am on a mask binge. Weird masks (like these neck masks), normal masks, sheet masks, you mask it, I do it. I’m also taking this time to do some lightstim treatments at night as I watch Curb Your Enthusiasm. Right now I do about one mask a day and of course my daily skincare. Just a reminder, your body needs exfoliating too so don’t neglect that! Make sure you are using a body creme that has rentinol in it.

I’m not sure if this counts as a beauty treatment but I finally did “this.” I had some leftover greenery so I hung it in the shower. I feel like it makes me look like a very centered person who does yoga and meditation. I prefer to be the opposite of that but I do enjoy the appearance of being chill to the absolutely ZERO people who will see this for the next few months.

A Bit of Humor

My boss got me this shirt. It’s the most comfortable shirt I own and I have worn it a LOT since it arrived this week. Also from a small business. It’s good for putting a smile on people’s faces (from afar) when you are walking around the neighborhood. You introverted people will enjoy this one.

Deep, Intense Cleaning and Organizing

You know those areas that just aren’t optimized for how you use it? I’ve managed to be able to completely reorganize my house. It’s been fantastic to figure out what items I use the most and structure things from there. I keep things very clean and tidy normally. However, doing WFH means I notice EVERY spec of dust in the house so there’s been several deep cleanings. I know this doesn’t always bring everyone joy BUT! Hear me out, during this time it’s a great way to be “active” in your home and there’s no way you won’t feel great at the end of it.

Rest and the Gift of Time

Like I said before, I don’t think I’m ever going to get this gift of rest and time in my life. I go back and forth on the “blessing” of it, but right now I’m really thankful for it. I feel like there’s so many things we’ve taken for granted and maybe this the reset we needed?

Writing Letters

I starting writing to my Grandfather this week. He’s 97 and I’ve posted about him before on social. More recently posting about him to ask you to stay home and help protect him. Anyway. I’ve loved writing to not only him but others as well. I get excited thinking about them having a surprise (that’s not a bill) when they check their mail and know someone was thinking of them.

Accepting My Feelings

It is really hard to be to present enough to work through my emotions. During this process I’ve been very aware of where I am in the complex circle of anger/anxiety/okayness/yelling at politicians/dismay. For the first time in my life I’ve been able to use my feelings to motivate me to write to all my representatives to demand action.

Some days I am extremely productive, others I’m just sad. Both of those days are just as valid as the other. You can grieve for the loss of life as we currently know it but also be excited for other things. You can have a complex mix of emotions and not make you a bad person.

A Note to You

You are allowed to not make the most of this time off. Eat the pasta. It is okay if you gain weight while you are going through a traumatic national pandemic. It is okay if you wear jeans at home. If you wear yoga pants everyday, that is fine. You are going through a lot and it is okay. It is okay if you have to take things 10 minutes at a time. You are a wonderful, magnificent person and you are valuable for who you are, no matter what you feel.

It is NOT okay if you are not following social distancing or respecting someone’s boundaries about it.. You could be the life and death link between someone. Please, stay home. I understand some cannot, but in every spare moment you have, please help protect the world.

For the first time in our lives, we can help protect the world by staying home. Please, help us be part of the good.