COVID Log – Isolation Date 031520.03
This is day three of my voluntary self isolation. As far as I know I have not been directly in contact with anyone who has been infected with COVID-19 but I am taking the advice of the health authorities and social distancing as much as possible in an attempt to do my part to “flatten the curve” of this pandemic.
My choice to self isolate was made on Thursday night as it became obvious that COVID-19 was becoming serious enough in Canada to necessitate the closing of schools and public facilities right here in my hometown. I decided to help out in what little way I can by being diligent about following the directions given to me by the appropriate authorities.
It is just day three but I am starting to feel the mental stress of isolation. It is only me and my furry partner in crime Fluffernut alone in the house. So far my life hasn’t looked much different than usual, but I’m noticing that just the fact that I can’t/shouldn’t go out is starting to cause me stress even though I otherwise wouldn’t normally be going out.
The uncertainty of what is going on in the world right now is causing a morbid fascination with the news sites as I try to decide just how concerned I should be about this situation. I know that watching this volume of news is causing me stress but I’m having trouble deciding just how much to watch seeing as I want to know what’s going on even though there isn’t much else I can do differently to change the situation for myself.
I keep reminding myself that I am in a very lucky situation compared to a lot of people. I am confident that my income will not be affected and that I can continue to social distance for as long as is recommended without any major ill effects to my self sufficiency. I was also fortunate to have randomly decided to do my weekly shopping the morning before all the panic started and I have enough food and supplies to last up to a month or so. I am lucky to have a good internet plan and lots of contacts on social media so I’m not completely cut off from humanity. My house also has a large yard that I can use to safely get a bit of fresh air and sunshine without breaking any social distancing guidelines.
My main concern is for my Mental Health. I don’t really do well in isolation. So far I’ve been keeping busy by cooking and catching up on chores. I’m a bit worried that I’m going to run out of chores to do to keep me busy if I do them all immediately so I have been spacing them out. I have also been trying to do some creative work every day (thank god I have an abundance of craft supplies on hand).
I’m thinking that what I need to do is follow some advice that suggested I should create (and follow) a routine during this time. I think it would definitely help combat the feeling of not knowing what I “should” be doing “right now”. I plan to schedule time every day to do some chores, cook, eat, craft, read, write, get fresh air and play with Fluffernut.
As for the world around me, it seems that every hour there are announcements of more cases and deaths from COVID-19 around the world. So far Canada is just getting started, our local area has had its first case and I am a mere three degrees of separation from it. This has caused a lot of panic buying at the stores over the past few days (yes, there really has been fights over toilet paper of all things). This rush seems to be slowing down today. The road I live on which is usually crazy busy has shown significant signs of a lower volume of traffic.
This is truly an unprecedented situation for everyone of our generation and it will be interesting to see how it all plays out. I hope that this log will be able to help me process the developing situation and to encourage others to look at this as an experiment in creativity rather than something that is terrifying.
