Friday was the first day that I cried….a lot.
I felt exhausted from homeschooling the kids, trying to get some work done as well as regular chores and I just couldn’t handle it anymore. I buried my head into a sea of tears and had to walk away into a different room in my home to be alone. I felt guilty for doing this, because I did not want my boys to see me cry. My husband told the kids that mommy needs a few minutes to herself.
Before the pandemic, if I was ever stressed, I would go to the gym or go out to a local coffee shop to diffuse, but due to the current lock-down there is no where to go, which adds an extra layer of stress.
I never in my life imagined that we would live through a global pandemic, yet here we are.
It is currently week 6 of the lock-down here in Ontario and everyone is starting to feel it in different ways.
Up until this point, I was making the most of this situation. I embraced the idea of slowing down. I even wrote a blog post about it. I started to do things that I normally wouldn’t have time to do: participating in the wave of baking bread and sharing it on Instagram; drinking fancy wines on the weekends, pinning arts and crafts ides for the kids on Pinterest and purged a lot of old clothes and toys for donation. I started watching foreign dramas on Netflix for fun and even contemplated downloading TikTok and get in on the bandwagon, but changed my mind because I am too old for it.
For the first time in years, I had a break from rushing home from work to soccer practice and I really enjoyed this idea and yet, time went on…..
There is still that fear of catching the virus itself. As my oldest has asthma and was born with a heart condition, I am extra vigilant. I barely leave the house and if I do, its just for necessities. On top of all this, I still worry that my husband may bring it home from the hospital where he works at.
As the lock-down here in Ontario continues on, it started to hit close to home for me. Knowing that it will be months until I see my parents, my friends and colleagues again started to weigh heavily on me. 2020 was supposed to be our year. Our family has been through so much over the past 6 years- premature birth, high-risk pregnancy, my husband’s residency and a sudden family death to name a few. I know, many of you had plans cancelled too, so we aren’t alone, but I just felt like this was a big and crewel joke.
Now, I am starting to worry about the financial implications of the pandemic too. Like you, many questions are going through my mind: will there be massive job loss? Will our taxes increase to support these benefits? Will we ever recover from this?
This created a perfect storm which culminated in me breaking down on Friday night. However, this in of itself brought a huge relief as I let all that fear, worry and guilt out. I’ve been positive throughout this whole process and on Friday night, I was extremely overwhelmed. Trying to balance everything at home just got to me and I reached my boiling point. I needed that release.
What I can tell you is that I am learning more about myself and how to cope with such situations. This time has also given me time to self-reflect and I gained a new perspective. My grandfather lived through three wars, Spanish flu and communism, yet he lived a wonderful life and passed away at age 101. He endured and saw a lot in his lifetime but he survived. He had hope and appreciation for life.
What I have found helpful during these times is reflection and mindfulness. I have been journaling since I was 8 years old and I have found journaling so helpful during this time. Staying connected on social media has become a blessing and watching all those good memes (the guy toasting to himself in the washroom is my all time favourite). Self-care and taking breaks from homeschooling and work is so important too, I’ve had a few nights where I just had a face mask on while reading a good book. I also find exercise quite therapeutic.
My advice if you are feeling overwhelmed, upset or frustrated, take that energy and turn it into something positive. Find your niche. Find something that sparks you, that makes you feel like you, no matter how difficult the circumstances are.
If you feel overwhelmed like I do, I want you to know, it’s okay, because you are not alone. It’s okay to cry and let your feelings out. We are all feeling this and is even getting to the strongest of us……and it’s okay to feel vulnerable. I keep reminding myself to count my blessings and that this will not last forever.
As I have learned with experience, the human spirit is resilient, but this is a choice: you have to choose that path and firmly believe in it because your mindset is what will get you through this.
