It has now been over 6 months of not hugging extended family or sharing meals or being able to walk into the grocery store or drop my kids off at school without a twinge of anxiety. The news cycle is brutal and the country is literally on fire. I don’t think I need to list all the reasons mental health might be taking a hit right now after half a year of pandemic life.
Here are some of the coping strategies I’ve adopted.
Volunteer to help get out the vote: I’ve found an easy way to help with voter turn-out for the November 3rd election by sending personal, brief, non-partisan letters encouraging people to vote via the website votefwd.org. Voter turnout in this election is critical and Vote Forward is a quick and easy way to increase voter turnout. The organization provides you with a return address for a local office and has you sign with your first name and last initial, so it’s a safe and non-confrontational way to encourage someone to vote by expressing why voting matters to you in just a few handwritten sentences. A similar organization recommended to me by a fellow activist and strong woman I respect is postcardstovoters.org. Instead of feeling powerless when I read the news, for the price of stamps and envelopes I can now encourage fellow voters.
Taking walks with friends: Rather than getting together for lunch or a yoga class like we might have before the pandemic, I’ve rediscovered how much I love taking a walk with friends. We wear masks and walk outside, lowering our risk, and the combination of exercise, sunshine, and social interaction is a perfect trifecta for my emotional and physical well-being. It also helps me cope a little with the loss of my beach walks with my mother this summer up in Maine. I can’t even begin to explain how much I miss them. Walking is also a much warmer way to be outside than sitting, which can make the cold seep into your bones. It’ll be something I can bundle up and enjoy on a crisp sunny January day when I wouldn’t be too keen about sitting outside in a lawn chair ten feet away from friends.
A social media break: I deactivated my Facebook account on September 1st and have left Instagram mostly dormant. It reduces the amount of time I spend looking at my phone that would be better spent emptying the dishwasher so I can take an actual break, and it protects me from some of the social negativity. While I am a little concerned about missing out on important news (I’ve learned of deaths, pregnancies, health scares, new puppies etc. on Facebook because it’s become a cultural norm to announce big news there) I do not miss scrolling through my feed and seeing insensitive comments about the concerns of teachers or the severity of the pandemic or the selfishness of parents or the fierce frustration of people who judge other people’s precautions as either too cautious or not cautious enough. I don’t miss interrupting my own life to share a picture of the dinner I just made in hopes that someone else will be inspired to make a vegan meal, and then checking back anxiously for likes or comments and wondering if maybe that eggplant didn’t show well. I don’t need to see an otherwise kind and compassionate acquaintance post a tirade about how universal healthcare is communism and would steal his hard-earned tax dollars, even as I know that this person would never want to see a hardworking American arrested for unexpected medical debt, something which happens in our current system. A break from Facebook is a break from judgment and fear of judgment on all sides.
LeVar Burton Reads: Yes, news podcasts and being informed are all well and good, and wellness podcasts can have great tips and tricks for being mindful and smelling the flowers or whatever, but sometimes you just need to escape reality for a little bit. That’s why I love the artfully curated and masterfully read short stories on LeVar Burton’s podcast for adults. He read to me as a child, and he’s reading to me as an adult. The dishes and decluttering and constant battle to pick up the whirlwind of other people’s possessions scattered throughout my living space is made bearable by his thoughtful performances. I can’t recommend it highly enough. LeVarBurtonPodcast.com
Knowing what’s for dinner by 4 pm: I don’t always manage this, but my life is much better when I do. If I can take a few minutes over my morning coffee to figure out what’s for dinner, it expands my options because I can defrost something if needed or make a pot of beans or soak cashews for sour cream. And then I don’t discover at 6:00 p.m. that I have no plans and there isn’t even time to preheat the oven.
Zwift and Voyager: I’m still riding my indoor trainer or running on the treadmill and watching Star Trek Voyager. Escape into a show you love and if you can do it while exercising so much the better.
I hope you are finding ways to connect, to exercise, to cope, to be proactive and to have hope. Be safe and stay well! And make a plan to vote, please.
