Just Lauren

I’ve been in self isolation for one week. If I can get through one week, I can get through another (and another). I felt somewhat claustrophobic last night as I got in bed to go to sleep. I had taken one step outside of the apartment onto the balcony and that was it for the day. Perhaps that was not a wise choice. I was able to distract myself long enough to fall asleep by trying to remember book titles but I hope I don’t have many more of those moments. Elisabeth shared this anxiety coping technique with me that I’ll utilize as well and I wanted to share in case it could help anyone else.

In order to try to help myself not feel closed in again I went on a short walk at lunch. Braving the cold is worth not feeling trapped. I will have to make going outside a priority. It wasn’t too cold either with my multiple layers, only my face got a bit chilled. Plus, I checked the mail, which I thought was useful only to discover there wasn’t anything of actual mail we received in there.

I wore the necklace Emmie made for me today because Kaitlin had told me that Emmie wore hers yesterday and that she feels so happy when I wear mine. The plan was for Kaitlin to tell Emmie to wear her necklace too and we could be matching across the miles. I finally got to talk with Kaitlin over the phone yesterday and it was so wonderful hearing her voice and getting to vent about Covid 19 with her. We’re going to try to video chat sometime this weekend and continue thinking about if we can see each other sometime in the near future.

The Journal document I created for my coworkers and I has become a big hit, three of us write entries every day and it’s become a spot of fun and light in our lives. I continue to chat with them over IM every day as well and that makes me feel good too. However, I am very happy to have a weekend, I think it will be good for my being. I plan on taking care of my plants, organizing my closet, and relaxing. I hope everyone else can also take time over the next two days to rejuvenate and recenter. If you’re looking for something to watch, I quite enjoyed Jimmy Fallon’s At Home edition of his show. As I mentioned yesterday, I think it’s really important that we all laugh every day. We need to find moments of happiness and joy during this time so I’ll try to share a bit of that every time I post. Love.