To most people I’ve been oddly calm during all of this upheaval we’re all dealing with right now. Jokingly, I’ve said it’s because I have an anxiety disorder and have planned worst case scenarios out in my head since I was a kid, so this just seems like “normal life” to me (thanks to whoever made up that random meme I found on Facebook about that).

But in reality, I think it’s partially because I’ve been trying to do what feels good to me. I’m still required to do work from home, but I can do most of that whenever the desire strikes. I do have to be available by email during the normal school day, which is fine. But if I don’t want to do work until 7pm, I don’t have to. That means I can sleep in, have a leisurely breakfast, watch a movie when I wake up, etc.

Also, yes, I know, I don’t have kids, so this automatically affords me more time to do what I want and not have to worry about little ones underfoot. I am kind of grateful for that right now and I feel for my friends that are struggling with little ones to entertain and keep safe. I have been checking in with those friends daily to, if nothing else, give them a little outlet or adult connection that I know they’re much in need of right now.

For me, there have been a few specific things that have been helping to keep me sane and even-keeled for the past couple of weeks.

Music

I listen to music a lot anyway but it’s definitely amazing now. The fact that I have this playlist with hundreds of hours of music is good for soul right now. I’ve basically listened to music all day every day, whether it’s loud while I’m cleaning or just quietly in my ear while I’m working.

Cleaning

Being home has given me a chance to clear out some things (like the guest room that I’m still working on slowly) and just give a good deep clean to most of the rooms. I am someone who does well in certain forms of chaos (like working in a high school) but I don’t do well in messy chaos. It usually makes me feel out of sorts and tired and anxious, so having my house in good condition has been a great help to my mindset.

Exercise

I KNOW THIS IS WEIRD FROM ME! I’m not the best with exercising and I’m normally not super into this. But moving my body has been great to keeping my sanity. Exercise releases endorphins which make you happy and can help alleviate anxiety and depression. While this may not be my favorite thing normally, it’s been nice to get up and move, especially since my normal routine of unintentionally getting 10,000 steps around my school on a daily basis.

Cooking

Cooking is basically my original form of de-stressing. Being able to cook and experiment has been wonderful. I’m planning on trying some gluten-free stuffed crust this week because I miss it so much. I tried out gluten-free cheddar bay biscuits last night and they were actually delicious. They don’t necessarily look it, but they did taste really good.

TV Binge Watching

TV binging has also been nice. We’re finally catching up on so many things we’ve been wanting to see for months and checking out so many new things that weren’t even on our radar yet. We just started watching “On My Block” on Netflix…and it’s amazing and hilarious and definitely something that should be added to your watchlist if isn’t already.