I thought I would do a post about what's going on in my Coronavirus life.
First of all, I'll say it's easy for me so far. It's mostly about staying home, and I'm one of those people in which that comes quite easy.
I'm quarantine-privileged.
We have a large house and a nice backyard.
Jack is homeschooled, so we didn't have to deal with the conversion from classroom to online instruction. Though he's college-bound fall 2020, and we're not sure how that's going to work out.
I have been cutting and coloring my own hair for the last sixteen years. I've only gotten pedicures and manicures for my wedding, my two sister's wedding, and one other time besides that. So that's not something I'm missing.
When we're not traveling, I'm a homebody. I prefer staying home to watch TV, read, surf the Internet etc.
We had no trips planned that needed to be canceled because of Covid 19.
All in all, staying at home has not caused me any psychological distress.
I actually like this world where we don't wear bras and our holidays and get-togethers are done on Zoom.
I AM scared of the virus. I'm scared of getting sick. I'm scared of family members getting sick.
I'm terrified of being on a ventilator.
But as long as I'm not reading horror stories or thinking about that stuff, I'm quite okay.
Right now, the horror is something that is pretty much happening outside of my life. Our personal stories are benign and/or distant.
One of my uncles tested positive for Covid 19. He was sick and in the hospital a bit. It was worrisome, because he has health issues. But he seems to be fine now....at least Covid 19-wise.
One of my cousin's lost a friend.
My nephew's teacher's husband died.
Right now, for my personal circle, we're like in the stage of Poltergeist where the chairs went all funny and Carol Ann slid across the kitchen floor.
It's like...Wow. This is all so weird. Tom Hanks is doing his Saturday Night Live monologue in his living room.
We haven't yet gotten to the stage in Poltergeist where Carol Ann gets sucked up into the void, and the clown doll tries to strangle Robbie.
I do recognize, though, that many people HAVE gotten to that stage.
For some of us, this is all very quirky. For others, it's a horrific nightmare. And there's no guarantee that any of us get to stay in the quirky box. Although, let's not pretend it's all equal. It's much easier to stay in the quirky box if you're not a medical professional or you don't work in a grocery store. Or if you live in a house with a yard rather than a cramped (aka cozy) apartment. OR....if you don't have a home, period.
Anyway, back to me and MY life.
At this point, the most difficult thing is dealing with Covid 19 discussions with my family.
Information that we have shared from the mainstream media has been labeled by my dad as headline porn. I'm talking about something that was on USA Today, our local newspaper, and even Fox News.
But meanwhile right-wing propaganda is passed onto us without any sort of vetting. And I'm not talking just during World War C. Too many times, the past few decades, I've been sent links that are easily disproven by Snopes.
Today I got an email, from my dad, with a link that pushes the idea that the threat of Covid 19 is exaggerated, a hoax, not something to worry so much about, etc.
But you know how Trump goes back and forth?. One day he downplays it and then the next time he seems very concerned. We're getting the same mixed messages from my dad.
On some days, Covid 19 is something to worry about, so blame China or the Democrats for distracting Trump with the impeachment. Other days, it's, this is just like the flu. People are making a big deal out of nothing, and we're screwing up the economy.
Anyway,
I prefer having Covid 19 discussions with people who do NOT easily believe conspiracy theories. Yes, I think having an open-mind is important, but that should be accompanied by research and critical thinking skills. And I especially do not want to have Covid 19 discussions with people who are prolific in sharing their links and viewpoints but then are antagonistic when others share the opposing viewpoint.
In other news....
I was very eager to use Zoom and finally got the chance to try it out.
I made little attempts to get people interested in doing it with me. That kept failing.
Then finally I caught the last bits of the family Passover seder. I was late seeing the invitation. But I enjoyed the two or three minutes.
That inspired me to be a little more assertive, and I started sing-a-longs. They've been complete disasters. It's hard to hear anyone and hard to coordinate and hear the music. But I have fun with it. I'm not sure if anyone else is having fun or if their participating to be charitable. Or if they're just really bored and needing some stimulation.
I've had two so far. The first was folk songs. The second was movie tunes. The upcoming one will be musicals...if there IS an upcoming one. I'm really not sure whether I'm contributing to my family or if I'm torturing my family.
Are they sitting around thinking, when is Dina going to have one of her sing-a-longs? I hope it's soon! Or are they thinking, Please God. Don't let me see a message today about another sing-a-long!!!
First of all, I'll say it's easy for me so far. It's mostly about staying home, and I'm one of those people in which that comes quite easy.
I'm quarantine-privileged.
We have a large house and a nice backyard.
Jack is homeschooled, so we didn't have to deal with the conversion from classroom to online instruction. Though he's college-bound fall 2020, and we're not sure how that's going to work out.
I have been cutting and coloring my own hair for the last sixteen years. I've only gotten pedicures and manicures for my wedding, my two sister's wedding, and one other time besides that. So that's not something I'm missing.
When we're not traveling, I'm a homebody. I prefer staying home to watch TV, read, surf the Internet etc.
We had no trips planned that needed to be canceled because of Covid 19.
All in all, staying at home has not caused me any psychological distress.
I actually like this world where we don't wear bras and our holidays and get-togethers are done on Zoom.
I AM scared of the virus. I'm scared of getting sick. I'm scared of family members getting sick.
I'm terrified of being on a ventilator.
But as long as I'm not reading horror stories or thinking about that stuff, I'm quite okay.
Right now, the horror is something that is pretty much happening outside of my life. Our personal stories are benign and/or distant.
One of my uncles tested positive for Covid 19. He was sick and in the hospital a bit. It was worrisome, because he has health issues. But he seems to be fine now....at least Covid 19-wise.
One of my cousin's lost a friend.
My nephew's teacher's husband died.
Right now, for my personal circle, we're like in the stage of Poltergeist where the chairs went all funny and Carol Ann slid across the kitchen floor.
It's like...Wow. This is all so weird. Tom Hanks is doing his Saturday Night Live monologue in his living room.
We haven't yet gotten to the stage in Poltergeist where Carol Ann gets sucked up into the void, and the clown doll tries to strangle Robbie.
I do recognize, though, that many people HAVE gotten to that stage.
For some of us, this is all very quirky. For others, it's a horrific nightmare. And there's no guarantee that any of us get to stay in the quirky box. Although, let's not pretend it's all equal. It's much easier to stay in the quirky box if you're not a medical professional or you don't work in a grocery store. Or if you live in a house with a yard rather than a cramped (aka cozy) apartment. OR....if you don't have a home, period.
Anyway, back to me and MY life.
At this point, the most difficult thing is dealing with Covid 19 discussions with my family.
Information that we have shared from the mainstream media has been labeled by my dad as headline porn. I'm talking about something that was on USA Today, our local newspaper, and even Fox News.
But meanwhile right-wing propaganda is passed onto us without any sort of vetting. And I'm not talking just during World War C. Too many times, the past few decades, I've been sent links that are easily disproven by Snopes.
Today I got an email, from my dad, with a link that pushes the idea that the threat of Covid 19 is exaggerated, a hoax, not something to worry so much about, etc.
But you know how Trump goes back and forth?. One day he downplays it and then the next time he seems very concerned. We're getting the same mixed messages from my dad.
On some days, Covid 19 is something to worry about, so blame China or the Democrats for distracting Trump with the impeachment. Other days, it's, this is just like the flu. People are making a big deal out of nothing, and we're screwing up the economy.
Anyway,
I prefer having Covid 19 discussions with people who do NOT easily believe conspiracy theories. Yes, I think having an open-mind is important, but that should be accompanied by research and critical thinking skills. And I especially do not want to have Covid 19 discussions with people who are prolific in sharing their links and viewpoints but then are antagonistic when others share the opposing viewpoint.
In other news....
I was very eager to use Zoom and finally got the chance to try it out.
I made little attempts to get people interested in doing it with me. That kept failing.
Then finally I caught the last bits of the family Passover seder. I was late seeing the invitation. But I enjoyed the two or three minutes.
That inspired me to be a little more assertive, and I started sing-a-longs. They've been complete disasters. It's hard to hear anyone and hard to coordinate and hear the music. But I have fun with it. I'm not sure if anyone else is having fun or if their participating to be charitable. Or if they're just really bored and needing some stimulation.
I've had two so far. The first was folk songs. The second was movie tunes. The upcoming one will be musicals...if there IS an upcoming one. I'm really not sure whether I'm contributing to my family or if I'm torturing my family.
Are they sitting around thinking, when is Dina going to have one of her sing-a-longs? I hope it's soon! Or are they thinking, Please God. Don't let me see a message today about another sing-a-long!!!
Read my novel: The Dead are Online
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