There’s legitimate fear in the air and it’s not just for us anxiety prone writers.
Yes working at home and cancelled events may give you more time to work on your novel, but it’s also being monopolized by worries: Financial, Health, Familial.
While I don’t have the magic wand to dissolve our global fear right now, I can offer solutions and maybe even hope, which is not readily available these days. I know. I’ve looked.
So here it is. It might not be much. But I hope it helps a little.
Turn off the news and limit social media.
This is a difficult one. When I’m on Twitter searching for writing updates and Twitter parties, I get sucked into the constant stream of bad news. In general, I never watch the news because I’m super sensitive to what I hear or read, which is why checking Twitter is so disastrous for me. The alternative is to post things on Twitter without actually going on there (e.g. sharing external links or using TweetDeck) or if I do find myself on Twitter go straight to my notifications.
Use your fear.
I know this seems hard to do when you’re paralyzed by fear. But if you use it, you might create something (a new essay, short story, or novel) that you would never have come up with if you weren’t in it right now. I don’t think I felt this in touch with a doomsday story and because of it, the words are flowing right now with a new novel that would never have gotten started had I not been in this situation. Some days, it’s the one hope I have-that I wrote something that felt meaningful, and gave me some kind of control even if it’s in a fictional world. This doesn’t mean it will be published. This is about leaving the present world because it’s become too overwhelming to deal with. Writing is a healthy distraction.
Now’s the time to practice meditation and mindfulness.
If there was ever a time to develop your meditation practice, this would be it. Of course, there’s yoga and any exercise in nature will do. But when I’m holed up at home sick from a random virus, which is what I’m doing right now by the way, meditation is a much needed salve. There are several apps like Insight Timer and Calm that you can try. But I’m also loving Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield’s free Mindfulness daily program. Some days, listening to these short 10 minute mindfulness practice means the difference between panicky and functional. Seriously.
Practice Self-Compassion
Lately, I’m not the only one whose impatient with their kids and I’m guessing the stress of balancing work at home, your kid who suddenly is out of school, and distancing yourself is making for a lot of overwhelmed households. Add to that is the fear of the unknown, inability to ask your parents for help because you don’t want to pass an unwanted virus along, trying to stock up for who knows how long and oh yeah hoping you’ll make ends meet. It’s not pretty guys and there will be junk food and more screen time than we’re allotted. And that’s okay. Really. We’re all just trying to get through something we’ve never been through before. If you need a break from all this stress and letting your kids play a video game or watch TV or you’re out of fresh food and have to open up a can, remember right now it’s about survival. If you can’t meet your writing goals today because you’re overwhelmed, give yourself a pass. Practice self-kindness. Tell yourself we’re all going through something right now. I’m doing the best I can. This is hard. This is really hard. Right now, I’m okay. And I’m going to forgive myself for the days when I’m going to lose it or not serve the healthiest food or be 24/7 able to be a perfectly mindful parent. I’m going to practice self-compassion for myself and for my kids.
If all else fails, call a friend. You can still FaceTime and there are several options these days to talk to a therapist online, via phone or through a video or app.
This is not the end of the story. This is the beginning, which allows for a lot of different endings. Let’s hope this one comes quick and ends like all fairy tales do.
Signing off,
Brandi
