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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
Dreams have been uprooted Churned like grains of sand In the billowing waves Till all that remains Are the bare bones Of shattered lives
April 24, 2021
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Talk about what you think the world will be like after the pandemic is over.
When the coronavirus pandemic is over the world will be a much different place than it was in February 2020. Millions will have perished from this virus. The families of the dead will continue to suffer greatly from the loss of their loved ones. Many millions more will die not from the virus itself but from one of a number of human errors that is tragic in scope. Many more people will die from hunger and starvation. People will die from lack of medical care for other diseases from a lack of medical resources. For those who manage to survive past these issues many will be poor perhaps for the first time in their lives. Downward mobility will be the next normal and the chasm between the haves and the have nots will widen. Violence and hatred will erupt all over the planet and if anyone is paying attention, this has already started. Yes, the world will be a much different place.
April 25, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
feeling better tulips blooming, and I'm doing my volunteer weeding in the park with the colorful tulips very uplifting planted peas, potatoes, spinach, radish, and collards lookng forward to things even though the virius is getting worse in places, people dying for lack of oxygen in India, and Brazil and who knows where else
April 25, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
Two days ago I received my 2nd Pfizer shot, then yesterday spent the entire day asleep. Sore arm, muscle aches, and deep fatigue - I'd rather have all of it than COVID! My mom died with/of COVID three weeks ago, and this week I submitted her obituary. Even though I wrote it, I can't bear to look at the published version. I also made travel arrangements to attend a cross-country service. I will only be one week into my incubation period, but I'm going to follow all protocols. I'm nervous about flying, though. I reserved a window seat with no one in the middle - I hope it stays that way.
April 25, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
Languishing. I finally heard a word to help describe my feelings. Languid (adj): without vigor or vitality. Languish (vi) to become weak or droop; to long or to pine. Yes, that term helps to define where I am at this point. I'm not depressed, and surely I'm not enthusiastic. I've pushed through months of the pandemic using extra energy to be positive, and it has worked. I've supported friends and family and have found ways to brighten each day. I'm able to hike and garden with friends and to continue meeting with book groups via Zoom. That's been wonderful. My husband and I are fully vaccinated, and that's freeing. The cup is half full in so many ways, yet I still long for my usual enthusiasm and energy. Pandemic fatigue? Perhaps that is real. Acknowledging it feels right.
April 25, 2021
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Talk about how the events of recent months have affected your financial situation.
I think food prices have actually gone up. Not sure why, but before the pandemic it's to do with the arrival of the tourists. Algarve is the most expensive region in Portugal. Anyway, I have not gotten a raise since I started working for this travel agency. In a way, we've taken a pay cut because not only are prices more expensive than when I started in the company, but we're also given more work because so many have quit. I'm still just managing.
April 26, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
Coronavirus is affecting me right now not that bad. I live in a very rural village. Not even considered a town. Many of the residences of the town are republicans so they do not wear masks. Many places also do not require masks. It has been an interesting experience. I feel as though people in my small town are not too worried about covid because there are not many cases where I am at. However, I did have covid for an entire month. I had to stay at my house away from the rest of society. I had no symptoms but I just tested positive. It was extremely frustrating because I did not feel sick. I wanted to go out and enjoy the world. Also, my parents are divorced so I could not go see my mom or step-dad. My place of employment would not let me return until I tested negative so they kept testing me and I just kept testing positive. I missed my mom's wedding dress shopping along with many other things. I feel like The biggest frustration for me personally about the pandemic is that my mental health has gotten way worse. I feel so much more sad and anxious. Now that we are slowly opening back up I have started having panic attacks and shaking when I am out in public. If I go to a restaurant I have to sit with my back to a wall or I freak out. I believe that the pandemic caused this because I am no longer used to social interactions. It is so infuriating because I just want to feel normal again. Another thing that was hard for me during the pandemic was that I ran cross country. This was very difficult for me originally because I never have been a runner. So being able to breathe was already hard. Then when covid hit we had to wear face masks during our meets. This meant we had to run just over three miles while wearing a facemask. I believe that this made me a better runner but it was very hard to get used to. I also saw other people get really sick because of the mask mandate. People who I knew as amazing runners would throw up after running because the mask made it that much more difficult to run with. Finally, one last thing that I thought was important to mention about how the pandemic has me realize how important an income is. I saw so many people struggle because they did not have an income. My dad and I worked for healthcare companies so we were always able to work during the pandemic because we were needed. I saw people not be able to buy groceries and such. It made me so much more generous. I gave people money for groceries along with my dad. It made me realize how lucky I was to have a job. Not only to have a job but to be making extra because I was considered an essential worker.
April 26, 2021
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Some people have reported that their dreams have gotten more vivid, or that they’ve had an unusually strong sense of God, or felt the presence or heard the voice of departed loved ones—has anything like that happened to you? If it has, tell us about it.
My dreams have always been pretty vivid, but I have noticed a few intriguing new themes in my dreams since March 2020. First, I've had a lot of dreams where I spoke Russian or was trying to speak Russian. I haven't taken Russian since the summer, but I think I've had this many dreams in Russian because my brain is trying not to lose it and is maybe trying to remind me that I used to enjoy this thing, even though right now I'm preoccupied with other things. Second, I've had some truly terrifying dreams about life-or-death situations or my own imminent death. I have not had these nightmares very often (only 2-3 times since the pandemic started), but 2-3 times in a year is very frequent compared to the frequency pre-COVID, which was 2-3 times *in my entire 21 years*. Oddly enough, unlike many people, I almost never have dreams directly related to COVID, social distancing, masking, vaccines, etc. In fact, in most of my dreams, I am embedded in crowds of people or talking to another person at close range, indoors, and it feels perfectly normal. I think part of this could be because I've been watching so much TV during the pandemic, and immersing myself in worlds where people socialize normally effectively tricks my brain into forgetting about COVID. Third, prior to COVID I seldom if ever had dreams about dating or erotic dreams. However, since COVID hit, my dreams about dating anxiety, going on dates, liking other people, and sexy situations have skyrocketed. I think this speaks to my ongoing preoccupation with finding a boyfriend "for the next lockdown". Somehow or other, I find that the big lesson I took away from COVID was that I need to find a boyfriend, otherwise "once the next lockdown hits" (here a therapist would stop and point out the pattern in my thinking), I'm going to be as lonely and miserable as the first lockdown, and then once the next lockdown lifts it will be "too late" for me to get real dating experience and find a long-term partner. I suppose this preoccupation also speaks to my own regret for having taken college too seriously, in essence, focusing on building my résumé and getting good grades instead of building relationships. I think COVID has caused a lot of us to question the ways we lived our lives before, and I definitely feel like I realize now that I focused way too much on grades and career to the detriment of my social life.
April 26, 2021
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¿De que manera el coronavirus le está afectando su vida en este momento? Cuéntenos sus experiencias, sensaciones/emociones, y pensamientos.
Bueno, me he dado cuenta que me he vuelto un poco más irritable, tengo poca paciencia , y eso es algo que siempre es necesario con un bebé. Pero las descargas de esa irritación las hago con mi esposo, y eso me preocupa, no logro establecer rutinas de sueño con mi bebé, es más estas dos últimas noches se ha dormido re tarde, y es extenuante, a veces me siento mala madre, sumado a todas las miradas y críticas que siento o que me dicen, no tenemos un momento y lugar para desfogarnos por el no poder salir. Sinceramente deseo con todo mi corazón que esto termine, el miedo más el cansancio y la rabia son muy difíciles de manejar, trato de acostumbrarme a todo esto pero no lo logro, me pongo a pensar que mi hija no se va a dar cuenta que es la normalidad o al menos la que nosotros conocíamos, ella ya tiene su visor y cuando nos toca salir saluda a todo el mundo, me da mucha pena no poder llevarla a jugar con otros niños, niñas, siento que es algo injusto con ella porque es hermosa y muy sociable y no lo puede expresar como quisiera. Quisiera llorar pero no puedo, no estoy sola, y odio llorar frente a otras personas.
April 26, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
Have gained weight and more signs of mental health symptoms from stress. Will cancel NYT subscription because too stressed to even reach list of articles in daily digital edition. Not worth the money. Will still receive free newsletters on specific topics. Not watching news At All. Too stressful. Even when read article supposed to be uplifting have immediate thoughts focusing on possible or real negative aspects of news. Friend sent me link to video showing snow leopard doing incredible acrobatics while playing with big ball in enclosure. Beautiful animal doing incredible physical movements but I only felt like crying because it was only alive and healthy because it was in zoo, imprisoned. News is always depressing. More and more mass shootings and bombings. More species of plants and animals vanishing because of loss of habitat and climate change. More Black deaths due to police fuckups or uncaring is firing up BLM movement again. Avoiding stress to defend my mental and physical health is sensible. But it does go to extremes and leaves me trapped in my home with few things to entertain or occupy me. Not much pleasure in my life right now. Aromatherapy is working. Strong scents of lilac, lavender and orange help me cope. I’m sleeping Much better even though I’m not exercising or going outside much. I want/need to start walking outside again. Using walking sticks/trekking poles is moving meditation for me. Very relaxing and enjoyable. I take photos like the one I uploaded. Very enjoyable to find subjects, take several photos of each, edit at home until find version I like best. Helps me feel good about myself and be aware there are beautiful things in the world close by to my home. I also enjoy meeting and briefly chatting with other walkers. I feel better after writing this.
April 26, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
I went back to school this week. It was both a departure from and a return to normalcy. Some classes worked better than others. Some gave us work. Some didn't. I wasn't allowed to stand up in three of them, for fear of moving around and breaking out 6-foot distance. In others, life continued almost as if it were normal, except with masks. I still feel uncomfortable that students are allowed to remove their masks to drink water. But I sat in a classroom. I brought notebooks and a pen with me. It was strange. A side note: double masking and wearing glasses for hours on end leads to sore ears at the end of the day! Safety first, but it was uncomfortable :)
April 26, 2021
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Talk about whatever else is on your mind today.
This photo is from when my brother and I biked to Pike Place Market last week. Right now it's wet and gloomy outside. But being able to see the sunshine in my photo albums from just a few days prior reminds me that things can change fast and unexpectedly, and that it will one day be sunny again. An analogy for COVID, anyone?
April 26, 2021
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Talk about what you think the world will be like after the pandemic is over.
We humans are adaptable. We fight as hard as we can to forget events as soon as they are over. Some of us even deny events that are happening now. What do you expect, in a world where some folks argue the world is not round? When I went to college and grad school, I studied the humanities. But now I work with scientists, and I've come to appreciate all that the scientific approach has brought. So much of our lives has been made possible through science and technology: the food we eat, the buildings and transport systems we enjoy, the internet which keeps us employed and occupied. Scientific research brought us a highly effective Covid-19 vaccine, in an astonishingly short amount of time. After this pandemic crisis is over, the scientists will continue to do research. Hopefully the rest of us non-scientists will gain a finer appreciation for what science has done for us. Respect and fund science!
April 26, 2021
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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.
Restrictions in this pandemic include places being closed, facemasks, social distancing, etc. Restrictions that have directly affected me are all of the above. I work with elderly people which means I have to be very careful. I have to wear a face mask all day every day. I have to sanitize and wash my hand regularly and sanitize surfaces regularly. Also, when I am in public, but not at work I also Have to wear a facemask because of the mask mandation. Another restriction is places being shut down. When covid first hit my high school shut down which was extremely hard to deal with. It came as a shock to everyone trying to learn how to deal with school online. My school also struggled with this. They made classes super easy and barely any homework. Students were and still are failing constantly. My school did open up but for two days a week. This made learning hard still. Other places that shut down include any public facility. This includes restaurants, book stores, etc. This made it hard for me to socialize. I could no longer go to a store with my friends or go out to eat. We were all basically stuck at home. Social distancing was the most annoying part of the pandemic. At school they would not/ will not let you sit by your friends. You can not share water or anything like that. They will not let you hug in that hallways. In my school, they made hallways only one-way traffic flow. This means you can not walk clockwise to get back to your class. You have to walk the entire school again. In public social distancing means that you can not be seated next to another group at a restaurant. No more than I believe six people to a table. It is really frustrating. not being able to be close to your friends and family. My mom even made social distancing restrictions for just me in our home. I worked with the elderly who had covid. That meant I was quarantined to my own basement. I completely understand this, but it made me really sad. Finally, one of the biggest restrictions that did not directly affect me but affected me emotionally happened t the nursing home I worked at. The nursing home closed down to visitors, which was horrific. I saw elderly people forget who their family was, cry over missing the, try to escape, and die without getting to say goodbye. The really took a toll on my mental health and I could never imagine what it did to those families. The hardest part was the fact that I worked with Alzheimer's and dementia patients. This meant that they forgot their families and then got angry because they did not know the person there for a window visit. I watched people die and families are devastated about not saying goodbye. Overall, I feel as though the restrictions made me sadder than anything else. I have mentioned before how I feel like the pandemic has affected me more mentally than anything else.
April 26, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
My Pandemic Life at the Educational Park Moderna shots received with my husband At the new track facility in my hometown Built, never used as lockdown began First use? CERT volunteers open doors Vaccines from orthopedic surgeons! My second shot given by a young physician. The educational park holds multiple schools Next to this new track facility, now open When I was in a sixth grader only One school on the hillside as cows grazed . I pondered what my grade school self might Wonder seeing this future, 57 years onward. How shocking ? Two shots saved our lives With a year old pandemic sweeping by Catching over three million souls In a wake that also bred mistrust Honoring the flag ? Are you right, left? Ruby shot Oswald but Floyd dead on our screens Fifty plus years ago displayed fallout shelter Placed in our town square - what a sight It might all end in a second, no notice Try hiding young heads under school desks? Now years later masks are new shelters Injected vaccines saving lives cascading past. The educational park holds old memories: A line drive to my eye while pitching A softball to a friend, knocking me out I learned that epsom salts work well I see girls in skirts galloping across fields If not jumping ropes we warred in dodgeball My half-foot shorter eleven year old self Could not see her future husband running An outdoor track to complete a virtual 5k We had run so many BAA marathons Patriots Day ‘21 we donned running gear As golden hued forsythia lit the hillsides. The pandemic issued in unique moments So our 5k, of multiple track loops beckoned Us on that Patriots Day weekend fully Bright sun blinded us,dark clouds arose As first light sprinkles of refreshing rain Turned to hail stones as we ran for our jeep Educational park was named for a neighbor Voted “First selectman” he selected this land The cows moved on, buildings now bearing Names of farmers who worked the hillsides And one field bears a classmate’s name Who was a town coach, his name also honored. We also walked loops circumventing the park Daily with springer alert to resident ground hogs The pandemic has made our routines range local Discarded light blue masks, newly strewn refuse So many seasons passed yet i see my younger self While ahead my husband watches new forsythia bloom.
April 27, 2021
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Let's talk about COVID-19 vaccination. Have you and/or those you know been vaccinated -- or had difficulty getting vaccinated? If so, talk about that.
This was the view today after my second vaccine at a race track parking lot. What a massive undertaking to bring all the people, tents, supplies.
April 27, 2021
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Some people have reported that their dreams have gotten more vivid, or that they’ve had an unusually strong sense of God, or felt the presence or heard the voice of departed loved ones—has anything like that happened to you? If it has, tell us about it.
The pandemic led to a greater sense of appreciation for people and the world around me. To me all of it Allah's creation. Greater appreciation has led to paying closer attention to details and paying closer attention to the details, leads to greater understanding. I believe that understanding and allowing us to love and appreciate his creation is how Allah speaks to us.
April 27, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
We argued last week over having a client here at our condo. My argument was that since we are vaccinated, at least with the first of the two shots (two of the three of us are fully vaccinated) the danger is pretty much past for us. E. argued that there was no sense in exposing ourselves to an unnecessary danger, especially when we are close to having full immunity. There is no "right" or "wrong" response to this. Los Angeles is down to 5 out of 100,000 having the bug, from over 150 a few months ago. So there is objectively less danger, but still some. Besides, who wants to be the last one Hospitalized for this ? Not me ! Los Angeles at one time had an aggressive anti-vax Face Book group, but when the LAPD finally put their foot down and said they were going to begin arresting protesters, the fun went out of being obnoxious, and the protests have apparently stopped. All in all, we are less vigilant than we were a month or two ago. I'm going to have lunch in a real restaurant tomorrow with my buddy out in Valencia. But still wary. We will eat outside on a patio, even though both of us are fully vaccinated. I wear a mask while putting gas in the car at Costco (and of course while shopping inside). At work, all our documents are sent by e-mail, no hard copies anymore, unless there are a lot of tabs. We are thinking about a trip overnight to Palm Springs -- first time in a hotel since last summer's trip to Yosemite. Big improvement in our ability to get out of the condo. And a very welcome relief !
April 27, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
I received my second vaccination shot last week and I am still so excited. All I see are beautiful colors, like in this mandala. I am working on being hopeful.
April 27, 2021
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Think about the people closest to you. Tell us about how the coronavirus has affected them, and their life.
My husband is an EMT and wears his R99 everywhere. He says it's because it helps with the fog in his glasses, but I know he is still nervous. He sees the worst of the pandemic day in & day out. At least he looks like a storm trooper.
April 27, 2021