don’t worry, this will end

I know this is a lot to handle. 

Chances are, like me, you told yourself this would probably be over by now. But it’s not. And it’s hard to know when the end will be in sight. 

You’ve made banana bread, homemade masks, and tried your hand at a new instrument. You’ve likely become a teacher (if you have kids) and the people in your home feel less like family and more like enemies or at the very least, a very annoying presence in your space.

You’re passing the time with Netflix, Hulu, and Disney Plus. Maybe you’ve even developed a green thumb and started one of those Victory Gardens like they did in World War II. 

But you worry, wait…will this end? And what will life look like if it even does? 

I’m not a fortune teller, a scientist, or even a weather forecaster, but yes, this will end. 

I’ve had my doubts as well. I recently started doing tele-health with a therapist and that was the first thing we discussed: apathy. 

“I just don’t care anymore!” I told her. “Nothing matters!” 

Immediately she empathized and said that she completely understood what I was going through. But then she also asked me a very basic question. 

“You know this will end, right?” 

I was a little shocked at the bluntness of it, but she was right. I mean yeah, this won’t go on for eternity. I mean it can’t. I was a history major. I knew that mass pandemics had swept populations before and changed things for a while. But then, eventually, things went back to “normal.” 

Before I go any further I want to plead with you that it is OK to not feel OK right now. It is OK to feel sad about losing a routine, a job, cancelling a wedding, missing a high school prom, or a vacation. This is not The Misery Olympics. You don’t have to have the illness or have lost someone to it to be valid in your feelings. 

That’s what’s so compelling about this pandemic. Literally everyone’s lives have changed in some way, big or small. All over the world people you know (and people you don’t) have felt exactly how you feel right now: lost and unsure what will come next. 

There are a few ways to cope with this feeling, some more productive than others. And again, let me just say again that it is OK to not be coping so well right now. You know what? Yeah, drinking alcohol is fun! Especially when you know you don’t need a DD because you’re not going anywhere! And what’s more fun than trying to do a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle with a fresh margarita in your hand? 

But there’s also creativity, reconnecting with old friends, physical activity, and my favorite, humor. On Instagram this morning I found the cutest thing. In Yorkshire, UK, this family had set up a sign on the sidewalk in front of their house:

The family set up a camera in front of the house and has been posting people’s silly walks, and let me just say, they are hilarious and wholesome and just what I needed this morning!

If you don’t know the origin of The Ministry of Silly Walks, you can do some research here and check out @yorkshire.silly.walks on Instagram.

Chances are, you’ll experience waves of these different coping mechanisms throughout your quarantine, and yes, that’s OK too. You don’t need to become a professional chef but it’s awesome that you made that lovely new dish for your family! You don’t need to become the next Taylor Swift, but yeah, it’s pretty cool that you wrote a new song! 

The point is, do what you have to do to get by and know that someday, when this is all over, you did the best you could to survive. 

🙂 M