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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
I have to get a steroid injection for my lower back this week. I fell over a year ago and that resulted in a bulging disc that is pinching a nerve. I was actually very lucky. Although I was scheduled to receive it in June, I was feeling well since I had not been working. I work in retail, therefore, I am on my feet for several hours per week which can exacerbate the pain. I knew that when I started taking two Aleve, twice per day, that it was time. I was instructed that I would need to have a COVID test 2 days before my injection, which I was glad to hear. It is a major hospital in CT, so no big surprise about the test and I was relieved to get it done. I was not and am not concerned that it will be positive, given how I and my family have followed guidelines. I can be an anxious person but for some reason, leading up to the test and waiting in line did not make me feel anxious at all. Weirdly enough, while I sat in my car, listening to Green Day, I felt "normal," while also noticing how surreal the actual experience was. The sign directing the line of cars, people in head-to-toe safety gear with clipboards, people waiting in their vehicles. After I checked in and pulled forward for the actual test, I felt comfortable and safe. I am aware of the many types of COVID tests available but did not know which would be used. I honestly didn't care. People complain about the "massive Q-Tip" that is shoved in your nose, touching your brain and I didn't quite understand the big deal, considering the alternative. I did have a massive Q-tip stuck up both of my nostrils and it was done. It was not a big deal and the man who did it was professional, friendly and had his system of conducting the test perfectly established. I drove away, seeing the long line of cars and felt as if this was a normal part of anyone's day, as if it is simply something that we do. Hours later I was wondering if my radical acceptance of that experience was a positive, negative or something else. I decided it's a mixture: a blending of a lot of colors and temperatures...just like any life experience can be, just like any day can be.
August 21, 2020
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
Today is day 87 since I began quarantine. Philadelphia entered yellow phase of re-entry.nothing changed for me. The world watched in horror a a policeman in MI kept his knee on the neck of a black man until he died while 3 cops stood with him and did nothing to intervene despite the pleas of onlookers The. Killer kept his left hand on his hip and displayed no empathy or affect.
June 25, 2020
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Some people are feeling intense feelings right now as a result of the pandemic. Is anything making you especially sad, angry, or hopeful right now? If so, what's on your mind?
Here's my Happy Color picture! It's painting online. Love it! A great stress reducer. It's just fun too!!
June 25, 2020
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
"... This image was created in late March, as the virus started spreading in the Northeast and the quarantine was imposed. It is about the slow insidious spreading vs the heightened state humans are in due to quarantine anxiety and isolation. ..."
June 25, 2020
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
After the brutal murder of George Floyd by the police in Minneapolis, the world changed. Protests are worldwide. I think that there is a cosmic plan for the world to change for the better. The pandemic is the catalyst .People are available. People are furious. They have time. They don't have lots of commitments. They are protesting. Their ideas are being challenged. Their values are being challenged. Their racist thoughts are being challenged. A revolution is happening right now. It is about time.
June 25, 2020
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
The picture is of an area in my room where I keep a bunch of travel related paraphernalia along with items that a relative of mine has gotten throughout her travels, such as tourist related figurines, international coins, and even a paperweight, along with my passport. Although I've never been to any of the places that the objects are from like China, Japan, England, Pakistan, and Mexico, the objects all get me excited to go out and experience the world someday.
June 25, 2020
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Some people are feeling intense feelings right now as a result of the pandemic. Is anything making you especially sad, angry, or hopeful right now? If so, what's on your mind?
"... I call this one Infinity. The endlessness of the pandemic and the weight we have as workers, parents, etc begins to take a toll on the mental health of the immediate family. ..."
June 25, 2020
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Some people are feeling intense feelings right now as a result of the pandemic. Is anything making you especially sad, angry, or hopeful right now? If so, what's on your mind?
This is such a tumultuous time in the world. We have a pandemic and have been essentially quarantined for three months. Now there are worldwide protests against police brutality and racism that is creating even greater divides between people. I keep thinking that I need to get off social media, as consuming all the comments from the Facebook groups and seeing people's posts is a roller coaster of emotions. Some positives from the protests this week: Racism is declared a public health crisis in Boston Worldwide protests supporting George Floyd and Black Lives Matter Confederate flags have been banned from NASCAR, A statue of General Lee has been taken down in the south, others to follow
June 25, 2020
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
Last night I arrived home from Spain, where I'd spent the last four months. ... It's shocking coming back here where people don't wear masks, and seem to be in denial. In Spain everyone wore masks inside, no questions asked. In Spanish "regresar" means to return, but I truly feel like I've regressed coming home to a country where our "strategy" seems to be to just let people die.
June 25, 2020
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
I think the most notable way that COVID affected my life this week is that I've had to wait and reschedule a doctor's examination three times for a coposcopy that has significantly affected my mental health. I've had to wait and worry for over a month to get an appointment, and last week it had to be changed out of the blue because of something out of my control. I'm also worried about going to the doctors because so many people have gotten sick being at the doctors and in hospitals and there is only so much that people can do to contain and stop the spread in those spaces. I worry too that hospital staff are taking the virus less seriously because my state has started to open.
June 25, 2020
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Some people are feeling intense feelings right now as a result of the pandemic. Is anything making you especially sad, angry, or hopeful right now? If so, what's on your mind?
I am sad and angry of the injustice and blatant racism in America right now. It's mind boggling to me that in the year 2020 we still have to explain what white privilege is. That we still have police brutality. I am angry our government has made the nation divided ten fold than what we used to be. I am angry at our president for everything from his racist tweets to moving peaceful protesters so he can do a photo op at a church holding a bible. I have been trying to educate myself more on black history and racism as a white woman in America. I will never understand what any POC has to go through on a daily basis but will try with all my heart to be empathetic and educate myself the best I can.
June 25, 2020
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
In my neighborhood I’ve seen a new and pleasant resurgence of the family stroll, jogging or bike ride. I’m wondering where all these people have been before. I guess that the kids are normally in school, after school programs, day care, or organized sports. Parents must normally go to the gym or spa for exercises. I think this family activity aspect of the thing is positive, as is all of the participation of parents in Zoom education. How can we arrange to keep some of the good aspects of the inconvenience of Covid 19?
June 25, 2020
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
Do I have COVID19? Who knows?! Thanks Trump administration for making testing impossible unless I’m sick enough to actually be hospitalized. If this is COVID19, I’d also love to know where I contracted it – I tried to self-isolate myself as much as possible last week, when I still thought I had a shot at going to Hawaii, and I took all sorts of precautions when I went out (social distancing, gloves, hand sanitizer, wipes for car surfaces, no face touching).
June 25, 2020
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Who do you trust most -- either in the news or in your personal life -- to explain what is going on right now? Tell us about why you trust them.
Since I'm a political scientist, politics and international relations are often my main focus but any stories about COVID19 are also of interest at the moment and that is how I have stayed on top of virus information as well as political developments. I also look over the main stories in the CNN app and the Daily Mail, the latter just to give me a sense of what a less "elite" paper might be focusing on. Although to get a fuller picture I realize I should also check out Fox News, their bias, misinformation and egregious support of Trump is just too much for me. As long as they are simply a propaganda tool for Trump and his cronies, I want nothing to do with them.
June 25, 2020
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Who do you trust most -- either in the news or in your personal life -- to explain what is going on right now? Tell us about why you trust them.
Dear Pandemic Journal: Sadly, I lack much trust in many institutions right now. ... Abrupt college campus closings forced my kids (like every other college student) to drop everything they were in the middle of working on at school to pack up and leave immediately. My two kids drove cross country together from New England to get back home to Colorado in two days. Families of college students really did not know how to deal with the possibility that their returning kids may be infected and contagious. As parents, we anxiously collectively waited for each institution to decide how to handle the rest of spring semester 2020. Then, while we all held our breaths during our kids’ travels home, parents discussed the most recent information we had on Covid as well as strategies we could use to keep everyone in the household safe and healthy. These college parent boards provided crucial emotional and informational lifelines for me during March, especially. I trusted and connected with many as similarly concerned parents and am grateful that we were able to be there for each other during a most stressful and uncertain time. Now, three months later, I honestly do not know who else I can trust for realistic and reliable information about how the US plans to get through this pandemic in one healthy piece. The re-opening process that has begun is very disorganized and uncoordinated. No central leadership exists. I believe there must be small pockets of health and research experts who really are informed about the status of our situation and what needs to be done. They are kept silent, somehow, or live in fear of political execution, however, and so do not get heard.
June 25, 2020
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Many of us have experienced restrictions on movement and social contact during the pandemic. Talk about any restrictions that have especially affected you.
"... I really miss hugging. There was a fire on our street and everyone was out on the street and watching and afterward we were chatting with the neighbors. One of neighbors hugged us and it was "by accident" but it was so nice! I don't know if I have really understood the toll this is taking on me. ..."
June 29, 2020
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Some people are feeling intense feelings right now as a result of the pandemic. Is anything making you especially sad, angry, or hopeful right now? If so, what's on your mind?
"... Absent from news cycles are the stories of how COVID is impacting people living in the aftermath of COVID-19 and how it's affecting families and will resonate for generations to come. People who deny the truth of science and experts because it doesn't align with their political ideology is sickening. ..."
June 29, 2020
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Many of us have experienced restrictions on movement and social contact during the pandemic. Talk about any restrictions that have especially affected you.
"... I think the thing that has affected me the most is the lack of freedom to fly. As someone who doesn't live in the same country as most of my family or friends, this is the hardest thing to think about.
June 29, 2020
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
"... I had to take my daughter (6 months) to a checkup today at the pediatricians. The protocol is to wear a mask, only one parent and one child can attend the appointment. We have to sit in the car until they are ready to take you in, only two children/families in the entire building at a time in opposite sides of the building. My daughter is just entering that 'stranger danger' phase newborns go through...she screams when anyone who is not me or her father or brother come anywhere near. ... We walk into the doctors office and everyone is wearing masks, including me. She looks to me for reassurance and can't figure it out. I feel badly because, though I try to reassure her and comfort her, she can't see my smile. These are not huge things in the scheme of life in this pandemic. I'm grateful they are taking precautions. But I do wonder what the social/psychological effect is of all of this on our littlest ones, the ones who don't really understand what's going on. ..."
June 29, 2020
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
"... Global and local developments are alarming me. I see that countries in Africa and in Asia, India for example, are starting to really struggle with their covid cases and their inadequate healthcare systems. I read how an eight-month pregnant woman with symptoms was hauled for 13 hours in an ambulance in Delhi as she was rejected by 9 hospitals (!) and ended up dying in a car crash. This is beyond tragic. And, since I am pregnant myself, this story hit me hard. ... everyone seems to admit that major structural changes need to be made in order to cope with this virus. ... However, [here in] Greece ... I see people hoping, writing, and believing that 'things are back to normal', but this is just an illusion. How can it be normal, when the virus is still spreading across the globe? ... We are all in the same bag, as they say here. ..."
June 29, 2020
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Many of us have experienced restrictions on movement and social contact during the pandemic. Talk about any restrictions that have especially affected you.
"... I just want to touch people. I actually backed up from my husband yesterday when he approached me in the kitchen, like A new instinct that I had developed to protect myself. It bummed me out and startled me. ..."
June 29, 2020