Dear Diary, a day to day look at self isolation

[quirkywords]

Hi

I have gone into self isolation . I will be alone and not seeing any friends or family.

I know we have other threads, but I would really like people to share their day to day thoughts and activities:

the highlights

the fun things

the frustrations

he things you can change

I think each day it would be good to share On thing that surprised me to day.

I would like you to share your ideas because it will help us all work out how.

So here is my first entry bit will be back later.

Dear Diary,

Day 1

I am not sure whether I am excited or a bit unsure.

I know I will need to distract myself and hide the chocolate biscuits.!!

I have a list of what I want to do but I think it is too ambitious.

One thing that surprised me was how much noise I like to have when alone. This may change.

Quirky

[quirkywords]

Pepper, your friend the doctor did not deserve the anger from the family but I do know grief is a powerful emotion and people sometimes have no idea how to cope.

So they las h out on the person who has been helping them. I think they will later reflect and may apologise. I have said things and done things when grieving that I am not proud of.

I am in no way condoning their behaviour, your friend is a hero and he has feelings too and is working above and beyond what is expected. I do hope some of his patients thank him and that he feels appreciated.

Thanks for sharing this personal experience. It reminds me we must thank people more and complain less.

[blondguy]

Hey Quirky

Thankyou for the excellent thread topic!

Just for myself I am keeping a 'video journal' on whats been happening with self isolation as well as 'News Clips' for my grand children....This period of time will be in the history books for many decades to come

Paul

[quirkywords]

hello everyone,

Video diary is a great idea if you are skilled. I have trouble taking a photo and find it hard to do a video chat on whats app.

Even doing an audio would challenge me. I think if you can its a great idea.

[eight]

highlights: woke up well-rested and hey, if that aint the dream

frustrations: mum keeps being upset at me because i'm not eating and im less concerned at all my bad hunger pangs and more she seems so helpless and "i don't know what you want from me" im trying!! i dont want to hurt you!!! god

fun: beachie has done the Grate Jump again. whipped her head around panting away and her eyes were shining like "did you see what i did" old dogs cant learn new tricks except One

one thing i can change: like, going to bed at reasonable times. suddenly i keep staying up at ungodly hours and theres nowhere to go and nobody can stop me until im too sleeby to do anything in the day

one thing that surprised me: keyboards have so much crap in them. i was sanitizing and cleaning my keyboard and i was getting all the underkey grout and there was So Much and i wasnt even using rubbing alcohol or an air duster just the adhesive part of a post-it to collect all of it and giving it some good taps to dislodge stuff before hoovering it up with this little handheld vacuum cleaner. reader, when was the last time you cleaned that keyboard of yours?

[Peppermintbach]

Hi Quirky & all,

Quirky: thank you for hosting this fantastic thread. I love coming here to read & reflect.

Yes, I completely agree with you. You’re right about grief. It can bring out all kinds of raw emotions...

Neither my friend nor his colleagues blame the grieving family. Emotions have been so high, & he knows it’s especially hard for the family, as they could not be in the same room as the patient. He knows that must have been really traumatic/heartbreaking for them, so he understands...

I think his sadness has more to do with the loss itself & feeling overwhelmed. I suspect also feelings of helplessness, which must be particularly hard for doctors...it’s a lot of pressure

Thanks so much for taking (making) time for me. You’re such a warm & consistent presence on the forums, especially when I know you’ve been through so much with the wildfires first & now this...a hug to you (only if you like hugs) xoxo

Highlights: the kindness of the people on these forums 🙂

Fun: ?

Frustrations: the usual...I miss seeing my family/friends in person, but I understand & agree that virtual is the way to go during this pandemic.

Also, I find WFH (work from home) really hard. I’m about 1/2 in the office & 1/2 at home, because I can’t 100% work from home due to the nature of my work. I understand why WFH needs to happen partially, but it doesn’t mean it’s easy.

My normal routine is in shambles...

1 thing I’m working on: same, same...patience is not one of my virtues, forgiveness & letting go.

1 thing that surprised me: how much I would struggle with being in relative social isolation

kindness and care,

Pepper

[quirkywords]

Thanks to everyone sharing their days and reflections.

Please feel free to do your own headings, or no headings at all. whatever suits you to share your thoughts.

Eight thanks for taking time to share your thoughts.

oh dear, my keyboards are a mess to but am scared I will ruin them by trying to clean them!! I banned my self from eating and drinking at computer.

Pepper Thanks for your kind words and your daily reflection here are appreciated. AS you know so many read them but never post and you are helping them. WFH is a new one for me!!

Surprised me I never knew I would miss the routine of having my shop 7 days. I didn't make much money but it defined who I was. I probably am repeating myself. If I hadn't lost my shop in the fires, I think I would have coped with few sales as I loved being in my shop.

Frustrations I know many people on this forum and those reading have also had illness grief and trauma before the virus and they are now suffering with both.

Highlight a lovely lady in a shop yesterday chatted to me an was very kind and understanding.

Changes not sure I have the energy to keep on changing myself but I still do.

Maybe I should drop the Fun and add a Trying hard!!

[eight]

yeah you hit All the keys when you're doing it so you should unplug your keyboard or turn it off/remove the batteries if its wireless. mine wasnt even too thorough like as i said you usually use air dusters or rubbing alcohol but i dont have too much of that so it was just wiping it down and running post it notes through the grooves, sometimes you gotta give it a few hard taps to dislodge - i cant tell where all the hair and dust and indistinct dirt came from but honestly would i even want to know

highlights: finished a little project i'd been doing. its insignificant and probably would not be very interesting or understandable to yall but it was a Project and it is finished and i learnt a few things when was finally done with it

frustrations: my brother tries to cheer me up but i feel like such a downer. i went to bed early because my pains too much tonight and im sitting in the sheets huddling my plushie in the dark and he comes in singing shrilly about i dont even remember and i had to repeat twice very firmly dude. i don't feel like it because that voice felt like it was driving a splinter in my brain and i didnt want an overload too. im sorry broe i just got sensory issues i always feel like im ruining his fun when i say please cut it and leave me alone

fun: watching a playthrough of to the moon. i know i could just haul myself to my desktop and boot up steam bc i have it but it felt too much for me i don't know. the story unlocks secret autistic emotions for me it always does and i forget how to feel them in the next few days after. current thoughts that have been sticking with me is that i want all the characters talking about how the platypus is a bad animal to take it back now

things i can change(d): had some Meals. didnt seem to stop the pains or maybe theyre just not as good Meals as i thought

one thing that surprised me: its nearly been a month since i started isolating. mama tells me she doesn't understand how i'm still so okay. i got an email from my school saying "we're not planning anything yet abt reopening our school calm down about the news" but mum won't stop buzzing about it

[WanderingAround]

Hi All,

I feel a bit down today, need to get it out of my chest.

Yesterday, I had to go to CBD as I'm a plasma donor and Red Cross called me asking for help. It's over a month I last went to the CBD, I actually work there, but I began working from home a couple weeks before the whole thing got so serious. It was strange. It felt a lot less crowded, but yet, I felt it was too many people walking around. I usually take a bus to the CBD, this time I walked. On the path, some places were really crowded. I feel a mix of confusion and anger trying to surface as the other side keeps trying to remind me that people are trying their best, and maybe, this is as much as they can bear to do. I have to hang on that, and keep at a safe distance. It's annoying because I feel like many people are making no effort to keep a safe distance. I dodge and swerve but I don't feel the same concern or appreciation. I'm maybe too sensitive right now. Maybe I am projecting my own contradiction of being outside when I should be doing my part being home.

These negative feelings wear me down. I feel people are not appreciating all the hard work around. But I have to believe people are doing their best, and repeat it over and over.

Anyway, the donor centre was full, I actually had to wait quite a bit before being able to start. Those people are amazing. The world is so crazy, and seeing not only the volunteers but the donors is cool. They were training new volunteers, the prep was done by a trainee. I could see the trainee was still a bit confused, I tried to encourage and ease the tension a bit, I hope it helped and didn't sound condescending...

Walking back the streets had less people, maybe it was just the lunch time movement?

Just by writing this I feel a little better already. So that was my (yester)day.

[White_Rose]

Great thread Quirky.

Highlight. I realised I can remove or reduce my pain if I take pain relief. Obvious? Well yes but this sort of stuff makes me weird and today I felt better without the weirdness.

Frustration. I do not have enough energy to do all the bits and pieces I want to do. I get tired easily.

One thing I can change. I can get my pain under control. I can also start doing things a bit at a time instead of wanting to finish the whole lot in one go.

Isolation has not been too bad for me. I have my embroidery to do and there are interesting documentaries on TV. I want to do some scrapbooking and make each of my grandchildren a scrapbook. Plus I have about two lifetimes worth of sewing projects. I guess this one of the my frustrations that I cannot get to do everything at once.

Cheers Quirky

Mary

[Peppermintbach]

Hi Quirky & all:

Quirky: Thank you for your very encouraging words to me. I’m so glad you created this space for us in this thread 🙂

Wandering Around: I know you’re probably not expecting a reply & you weren’t writing to me...

But I just wanted to say that I think you’re doing a beautiful thing to donate plasma to the Red Cross. I vaguely remember reading how they’re experiencing a shortage of donations, presumably because most of us are staying home. So what you’re doing is really generous & needed...

I can empathise with your frustrations towards people not complying with social/physical distancing advice though. I hope writing out some of your thoughts, feelings & frustrations here had the soothing effect that you wanted 🙂

Today:

Highlights: I have a job, roof over my head, food & clean water.

Fun: ?

Frustrations: Even though I understand & agree with social/self isolation advice, & yes, I’m following it, it’s really difficult for me mentally.

I feel increasingly claustrophobic as time passes, & I miss my friends & family. But I’m grateful for technology to keep in touch, as that’s all we have now...

One thing I can change: I wish that I coped better with social isolation, but I’m finding it really hard...even my own home is starting to become aversive to me...

One thing that surprised me: ?

Kindness and care to all,

Pepper