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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
In the past week with the mask mandate removed it has been confusing and weird. We have been wearing masks for so long that I am hesitant to remove it because it has provided some measure of protection. I fear that unvaccinated people will not be responsible and wear a mask, just as they are not being responsible to the greater community by not being vaccinated.. My fear is that covid will not be fully gone and it will reappear. I still struggle with trying to determine if I can still be friends with someone whose viewpoint on this issue is so very different from mine.
May 20, 2021
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Do you feel like you know how to protect yourself, and others, from the coronavirus? Talk about why or why not.
I feel like continued mask wearing and continuing some of the basic hand hygiene is not a bad thing. I don't think I will immediately go back to full-on contact with people because now I have to think about not just the coronavirus but about other illnesses since I'm in a depressed immune state due to chemo, so I will just continue to isolate for a while.
May 21, 2021
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What was the biggest news issue this past week -- either in your community, nationally, or globally? Talk about it and why it’s a big deal.
Palestine is no doubt the biggest issue that's been happening this week in the global headlines. Earlier in the week and last week I didn't really know much about the situation with the current missile strikes, but as this week has gone on I've learned more and I really side with the Palestinians on what's happening. I understand that the Jewish people have a right to their homeland, but the Israeli government can't be evicting Palestinians from their homes, taking more land, evicting Palestinians from one of their holiest mosques, and sending countless missiles into Gaza where civilians can't protect themselves and don't have their own iron dome.
May 22, 2021
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Talk about any major life events, milestones, or other important things in life that have been disrupted by the pandemic.
This past year I turned 80 and had a 60 th anniversary. No celebration like what would have happened except for Covid. Now I am about 10 weeks away from 81st birthday. It will be another non event ...no Ruth Chris’s steak dinner, friends stopping by. Oh well...still alive. I am worried about plane travel so I will not be making my annual visit to NYC to see our son and his family. FaceTime, Zoom, text and phone calls do not, I repeat, DO NOT ever come close to hugs, and being inches away from the ones you love.
May 22, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
I heard on a podcast a while back that after the 1918 pandemic, culturally, not a lot changed. There was maybe one book about it, but it didn't really infiltrate popular culture the way that wars, or other horrific mass deaths might. I can see that happening in real time now, just in how easily things have shifted into this next phase. Suddenly we don't have to wear masks anymore? Or like, CDC says we don't, state of CA says we still do, vaccinated or not. This does not instill a ton of confidence in the CDC for me. I did finally get my first dose last week. New England Journal of Medicine had some promising data to share, at least for people getting the shot in their third trimester. I am solidly second trimester, but I'll be approaching 3rd by the time I get shot #2. Not as close as I would have liked, but I guess I feel better having done it. Some days I feel very bad about it, like this morning, when I read that WHO is definitely NOT recommending it for pregnant people unless they're at serious risk. I don't consider myself at serious risk, but I guess I will be once the boy is in preschool? My friend is trying to convince me to come visit her down south. This would involve a plane. Even fully vaccinated, it seems reckless for a super pregnant lady to get on a plane unless there is a very very good reason. I am trying to decide if my reason is good enough. I'm not sure it is. Once again finding myself sort of wishing I could believe this is all a 'scamdemic' and that everyone is overreacting and just go about my life like some solipsistic maniac. Alas...
May 22, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
My daughter got married this week. Right before the ceremony we found out the groom had a positive COVID test result. He went to get 2 more rapid tests and a third test the day of the wedding to make sure he didn’t have COVID. We were very worried he wasn’t going to make it to his own wedding. Fortunately the results came back negative wedding went on as planned and everyone had a great time!
May 22, 2021
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Does this time of the year feel different than it normally does, or different than it should? If so, give some examples of what feels different.
This is my sweet, goofy, very smart standard poodle. They are noble dogs initially bred to be water retrievers People who don't know standard poodles think of them as froo-froo dogs, weirdly styled and high strung. That's not true. Well, the show dogs are weirdly styled, but the origins of that come from what they were initially bred to do. The long hair on their torso protect their internal organs from cold water. The shaved lets, back, belly and tail keep them from sinking. The poms on the hips, knees, and ankles protect their joints from the cold. And the pom on the end of the tail makes it easier for a hunter to spot them in the reeds. They are loyal, loving, and intelligent. This one keeps me active and helps smooth over election worries, Covid fears, and unintended hospital stays. Her companionship has become very special throughout this awful year. I am the only human in my house. I think I would have experienced deeper depression had it not been for this wonderful dog. Poodles are very athletic so we go to a very large dog park every day so she can run. Lucy is very confident and socializes well with other dogs. When I watch her invite another dog to play, when she runs and gets chased, when she wrestles, or when she tries to climb a tree to get at a pesky squirrel, I marvel at how beautiful her spirit is. And, she loves playing in the snow. She gives me hope and lightens the emotional hold that Covid has had on me, even when she steals a stick of butter from the counter top and sneaks it into the living room where she smears it on the rug.
May 22, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
This past week really feels like the inverse of the week of March 12, 2020. Over that week the reality of the pandemic hit home hard. Tom Hanks got it. The NBA was canceled. NYC shut down and ultimately the country went into lockdown. It felt like overnight our entire world and reality changed. Well like I said, this past week felt like that but just the opposite, our world rapidly opened up again. On May 13 the CDC said that fully vaccinated people didn’t need to be masked even indoors. Almost immediately you could see the change. In NYC lots of people were now wearing masks on their chins or arms while outside. Inside people were still masked but in PA that changed. We are looking for a car and caravan and at all the dealers no one is wearing masks. They will (mostly) put them on for you if you want but it’s almost surreal to be indoors at a business and people are without masks. The weirdest part was when the broker extended his hand to shake ours. Haven’t done that in over a year and I recoiled slightly. On May 19, NY lifted almost all restrictions. Businesses and restaurants could operate at full capacity. All city workers went back to the office and the subway is back to 24 hours. And yesterday we went to a wedding. In person. And there was not a single mask in sight! There was also lots of hugging and it felt normal. I think there are some things we thought would stick around after it’s all over and I’m sure there will be for different people but it was actually breathtaking how quickly it feels we’ve transitioned to after (here in the US that is - elsewhere it’s not like this at all, right now my family in SA is gearing up for their third wave)
May 22, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
In the last two months my unit has lost 8 nurses out of 90. A nurse who is burnt out and moving to a lower acuity area A nurse who is going back to school for her DNP A nurse who took a job in a cardiology clinic, she says she can’t do ICU anymore A nurse who quit and is looking for a non nursing job Two nurses who are moving to another hospital for 5 dollars more an hour A nurse who is lgoing to a smaller hospital to get dayshift with less acuity patients A nurse who decided to move across country to be close to her grandkids, she says the pandemic made that clear. It’s not unusual for us to lose a nurse a month but typically it’s pregnancy, husbands or wife’s new jobs, or graduating NP school. This is all despite a comprehensive Covid wellness and mental health program and is having had excellent PPE during the crisis. It seems that nurses are just done with the whole system of healthcare and the pandemic proved to us that this system will never be fixed. I myself would quit nursing but I’m 61; my job choices at this pascals are limited and I’ve got another 11 years to retirement!
May 22, 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.
In pandemic we did online grocery. Sometime we assumed that we are ordering a small squash. But we got a whole squash. We did not know how to cut it. My husband challenged himself to cut the vegetable. But the knife slipped and he cut his finger. It was a big mess. He suffered for 2 weeks. That night his bleeding scared us. We went to urgent care to get Tetanus injection. He got good tight bandage. That time people were scared to go to hospital. It was really scary situation, But we learned a lot and became stronger every day. In one year we know how cut whole chicken, whole pumpkin and watermelon. We learned lot of kitchen skills.
May 22, 2021
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Does this time of the year feel different than it normally does, or different than it should? If so, give some examples of what feels different.
This is usually the time of year, as a teacher, where I am enjoying the end-of-year events and celebrations with my students as well as getting started on planning for the next school year. None of that is happening this year. Some of it is due to precautions and health protocols. Some of it is just due to the level of burnout I am feeling.
The elementary school where I teach is not holding any big schoolwide events such as field day or moving up ceremonies. We are doing some virtual events for Kindergarten and 4th grades, but since I don't teach them, I am not really involved at all. I usually do not enjoy field day, but it would've been nice this year since so much of the joy has been removed from school right now. Who knew I would miss sweating for 4 hours, being dehydrated, and getting a sunburn while my 7 year old students ran relay races!?
We aren't able to invite families into our classrooms this year, either. So our traditional end of the year open houses and celebrations are not happening. Here's where my burnout comes in - I could try to hold something over video meetings, but I just can't bring myself to organize another virtual activity. I just don't have it in me.
Similarly, I have no mental or emotional bandwidth right now to start thinking about next year. Normally, I'd be excitedly brainstorming new projects with colleagues, and talking about new things we wanted to try or old things to change or replace.
May 24, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
I am trying to stay balanced. I am trying not to be worried about the big box chains that no longer require masks to enter. Meanwhile I'm trying to be a good mask wearer even though I am fully vaccinated. This struck home the last two days when I left California and traveled to Kentucky to see my family. I was particularly bothered by a man on the flight who continued to wear his mask below his nose. I wanted to scream at him but it was 6AM PT and I was too tired. But I kept thinking "is this what awaits me in Nashville?" I feel this continued anxiety that the US is on the precipice - could we become like India where we proclaim victory against the Coronavirus and then fall victim to not achieving herd immunity? That continues to worry me. That not enough people are vaccinated.
May 24, 2021
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How is the pandemic affecting any children in your life? Give an example or two of some specific ways you've seen this happen.
My granddaughter, now 7 years old, has been going to a hybrid school this year. Her mother has had to constantly juggle work and overseeing her child, and there is often friction between them as my daughter has to assume the role of teacher as well as mom. Currently, she has to continue to wear a mask when I do not. I think that is tough for both adults and kids…..
May 24, 2021
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Talk about your experience keeping this journal. Has it had any impact on your health (including mental health) and well-being?
I believe keeping this journal was very helpful to my mental health because I was forcing myself to put into words and pictures what I was feeling and experiencing. There was so much information and disinformation on the pandemic that it was overwhelming. A greater sense of control was present when addressing my worries and feelings than if I didn't think them through and write them in a logical format. The act of recording answers to specific questions made me more aware of the situation and how I reacted to it.
May 24, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
Spoke with an adult white male I know, age about 40. He works for a large company - ... as a blue collar worker. He said he and his coworkers hadn't gotten covid yet, so why should they get a vaccine? I felt like saying, "you haven't had a car accident lately, so why bother having car insurance?"
May 24, 2021
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Talk about about something that has changed in your life in the last few months.
Change in my life? Two “believing mirrors” died One a colleague artist The second like a brother Suddenly heart attacks March ‘20 October ‘20 Change for my life? I could no longer paint. However, May 20,2021 I picked up my brushes And birthed a watercolor. May the drought of creative spirit Pass - changing me once again Into my self before mirrored self. Reflecting my love For friends passed.
May 24, 2021
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Talk about how the events of recent months have affected your financial situation.
My financial situation is precarious. I have not lost my job however I have been paying for extensive dental proceedure and it is taking every extra dollar I have. I live pay check to paycheck and worry alot. Then sometimes I just block my mind from it all and I sleep on my day off to escape for a while.
May 24, 2021
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.93 positivity rate Here in Connecticut My rhododendrons Seem to know! Blossoms celebrate This new day!!!
May 25, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
I am starting to see the world opening up, as people feel confident about mingling due to 1) being vaccinated; 2) thinking that the pandemic is becoming less of a factor in our lives. I have to admit on feeling nervous about going places without a mask. I did that for the first time this past Sunday when I walked into my church without a mask. The rules we were given were that we could come in without a mask, BUT if we sang the hymns, we had to put on our masks. I watched our priest taking his mask on and off to comply with these instructions, passed down from the Diocese. A cumbersome process at best! I just did not sing. Easier that way.
May 25, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
helping my daughter who's been shut in due to Covid & unemployment She didnt get Covid, but the affect of the shutdown on her physical & mental heath was huge. Will be getting back to health all around, lucky for us we have the resources to help
May 25, 2021