Life in these Strange Times, part one

Sooooo.... everything has stopped functioning that isn't considered "essential." And life goes on, at a slower speed. Today, I am going to start documenting this experience of life on shutdown. It kind of reminds of the title, "Stop the world. I want to get off." Except for the fact that I didn't ask for the world to be stopped, that is exactly what happened. It's definitely a new experience. For me, it started last Sunday, when church services were canceled.

And then, one by one, things started closing down. Schools. Colleges. Churches. Gyms. Hair salons. Restaurants are restricted to take out and delivery.

People can no longer congregate in groups. No concerts. No art gallery openings. We have to practice social distancing. For me, that is a huge challenge because I am such an extrovert. Nevertheless, I like being a LIVING extrovert so I practice social distancing. Oh, and washing hands for twenty seconds with plenty of soap and water. The recommendation is to sing "Happy birthday" twice. Well, singing the same song with each handwashing is a bit boring. One singer I know replaced "Happy birthday" with a song from "Les Miserables." It was a long song, and her hands were very, very clean.

If you don't have access to a sink and water and soap, make sure to use hand sanitizer, especially if you touch surfaces. Hand sanitizer can be your friend. But it has to be alcohol-based. Only alcohol-based hand sanitizer offers the desired effects. Oh, and hand lotion is your other friend. You don't have to practice social distancing with them. Just use them. Hand sanitizer keeps the germs off of your hands, but it has a drying effect. Hand lotion will make your hands feel soft and hydrated.

So, anyway, this is an introductory post to my upcoming series of blog posts, as well as to the A to Z Blogging Challenge for April. I signed up for that at the last minute. Hence, my theme reveal was not posted on March 16th. My original plan was to spend a week or two walking across New York State in the Nuclear Free Future Walk. But the walk was canceled. So here I am, at home, watching the world in the midst of chaos.

You're probably saying, "Alice, you've mostly given suggestions and offered a report on what has happened. How do you feel?" Oh, I'm glad you asked. I am feeling good for the most part. But lonely. As I mentioned earlier, I am an extrovert, and I need the companionship of other humans. I'm not getting that, and, after a week, it is having an effect. There is no way of knowing when this will have an end. At times, it doesn't feel real. But I know that it is very, very real.

And I know that I am not alone in feeling this sense of disconnect. Which is why I will be doing a series of interviews on self care. I am posting the first interview tomorrow. So stay tuned!