By now I’m sure you’ve heard that Governor Inslee has extended his mandated restrictions an extra three weeks, through Jan. 4. If you hadn’t heard, here’s a good summary:
We wanted to take this opportunity to have a discussion thread — a feature we’ve never used before — to just check in with folks and see how everyone is doing.
Meg Curtin Rey-Bear, the badass mental health pro from past podcast episodes and newsletters will help wade through the questions for a future issue of the newsletter. So here we go:
How are you holding up? What questions do you have?
It has been a rough year without covid-19. I'm pretty full up with stress and anxiety. I'm not nearly done processing my anger about Dump and all of his cronies. I'm furious.
As a parent of a 4-year-old, whose family spent most of November in stay-at-home quarantine, I’m sure it’s possible for me to be more physically and emotionally exhausted than I currently am, but I’d need to see a lot of convincing charts and graphs to believe it.
Staying home and no gatherings with friends and family is hard. But it’s not forever. Losing a job or a business is a lot harder and I’d like to see community and government come along side these people and help them out! But hardest of all is losing a family member or friend to COVID, losing hundreds of thousands of fellow citizens to COVID or having a family or friend have a chronic health issue due to COVID. 21//2 years ago I was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s Disease. In one day I went from having a few bothersome problems with hope for a cure to knowing I was stuck with these symptoms snd they were only going to get worse as I age. There is no cure. After a few weeks of woe is me, I realized that I could throw the rest of my life away by focusing on the pain snd limitations or I could focus on the things that i CAN do. I could choose to take the focus off of me and look around at the difficulties others were facing and be an encouragement to them. My motto is Every Day Is A Gift This pandemic is not forever. Our leadership let us down by not providing an example of how we can bind together and help one another through the common enemy of the pandemic with a positive attitude. Instead we are lashing out at one another, complaining about small temporary sacrifices like mask-wearing, and leaving those hit hardest to face this alone while criticizing the people working to help us: scientists and health care professionals. In the long view of life we only have to sacrifice a little longer to save thousands of fellow citizens lives. I’ve chosen to help a low income family with educating their children whose school is on-line, to volunteer with food donation programs and to donate funds to non-profits addressing the issues..There are a lot of people hurting out there. Let’s help one another through this!
We are fine. I am glad our governor has the strength and integrity to do the right thing. I wish our president had the same. I am also very frustrated at people who are too selfish to wear masks. We have many friends who remain unemployed because we have yet to get with the program. I know: Science is tough for some people.
I'm relieved for the extension, hard as it is, and I would not have (and have not) changed my behavior with fewer restrictions. Hope also feels like a real and tangible thing for the first time in a long time. Vaccination arrives in WA State starting next week. As I work for an organization steeped in the Catholic faith, it has been referred to as our "star of Bethlehem" for 2020. I'm not a religious person, but it really does feel like a bright shining light in the not-so distant future. Signing up for as many shifts as I can to work non-RN/MD positions to help vaccinate my heathcare peers is bringing me the strength to keep doing my regular job, and then I'll take that needle as soon as it's offered to those not providing direct-care to COVID+ patients sometime in 2021. As dietitians, my team is seeing more mental health-associated dietary impacts in the outpatient setting, and an uptick in malnutrition in the inpatient setting (and particularly associated with complications from COVID-19). I have to imagine that both will outlast this pandemic, and I'm both energized and overwhelmed by thinking about how to meet that and do right by our community. Self-kindness and raging imposter-syndrome have been competing more than usual as the darker days of winter descend, and missing my septuagenarian parents, aunts, uncles, and far-flung friends is more acute. Other than that, we're soldiering on. Thanks for your podcast and written thoughts--I mostly listen as I'm either walking to or from work, and it has been a definite bright-spot as I gear up for or wind down from another day.
I'm mostly restless. I usually work from home so in some ways it is like it always is for me. I am grateful to be working and to have enough money to keep things going. Many of my friends are facing dire financial situations and I am keeping an eye out for resources for them. I worry about the future as governments, businesses and individuals are all getting to the end of their reserves financially. People are getting burned out from all the extra work of having their kids home from school and working from home at the same time. The hardest part has been the loss of several friends - one to covid, one to cancer, one to old age - last week. Many of my friends have been unable to see their elderly parents and are struggling. Others that I know are sick enough that they cannot work right now. I'm grateful for nature. Even when it is cold, I am going outside every day and I am trying to walk or drive or work in the yard - I need exercise and a sense of being in the right place. I have been through many hard things including the deaths of my family members, a messy and financially devastating breakup and job loss and I know I can get through this, too. One step at a time.
I think the hardest part about COVID is the loneliness. It has exacerbated our pre-existing lack of friends, but now I don’t know if there is any way to make friends even if we tried. My husband and I don’t have kids, so the holidays will just be us (no visiting family due to COVID.) Usually I treat my loneliness by spending time in nature, but it’s so cold and dark now. I’m quitting my job and going to college full-time starting in January, so I’m hoping the exposure to professors - albeit online - will be somewhat helpful to feel connection. Also, I’ll be able to get outside during the daylight. Looking forward to these small positives. Thanks for asking about us. :)
Well this year was surreal. At EWU, I teleworked part of the week since March and did lose my job in October due to the university’s budget cuts but managed to hold on and get rehired. Unemployment never helped even though I went from full-time to non-student hourly part-time but my tribe did help a bit with COVID cares act. I’m fortunate and It’s a permanent lump in the throat when I hear and see what’s happening to families across the country and in our own city.
It has been a rough year without covid-19. I'm pretty full up with stress and anxiety. I'm not nearly done processing my anger about Dump and all of his cronies. I'm furious.
Well, I'm going to be fine, but I'm pretty worried about my favorite restaurants and my service industry friends. It's going to be a rough winter.
As a parent of a 4-year-old, whose family spent most of November in stay-at-home quarantine, I’m sure it’s possible for me to be more physically and emotionally exhausted than I currently am, but I’d need to see a lot of convincing charts and graphs to believe it.
Staying home and no gatherings with friends and family is hard. But it’s not forever. Losing a job or a business is a lot harder and I’d like to see community and government come along side these people and help them out! But hardest of all is losing a family member or friend to COVID, losing hundreds of thousands of fellow citizens to COVID or having a family or friend have a chronic health issue due to COVID. 21//2 years ago I was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s Disease. In one day I went from having a few bothersome problems with hope for a cure to knowing I was stuck with these symptoms snd they were only going to get worse as I age. There is no cure. After a few weeks of woe is me, I realized that I could throw the rest of my life away by focusing on the pain snd limitations or I could focus on the things that i CAN do. I could choose to take the focus off of me and look around at the difficulties others were facing and be an encouragement to them. My motto is Every Day Is A Gift This pandemic is not forever. Our leadership let us down by not providing an example of how we can bind together and help one another through the common enemy of the pandemic with a positive attitude. Instead we are lashing out at one another, complaining about small temporary sacrifices like mask-wearing, and leaving those hit hardest to face this alone while criticizing the people working to help us: scientists and health care professionals. In the long view of life we only have to sacrifice a little longer to save thousands of fellow citizens lives. I’ve chosen to help a low income family with educating their children whose school is on-line, to volunteer with food donation programs and to donate funds to non-profits addressing the issues..There are a lot of people hurting out there. Let’s help one another through this!
We are fine. I am glad our governor has the strength and integrity to do the right thing. I wish our president had the same. I am also very frustrated at people who are too selfish to wear masks. We have many friends who remain unemployed because we have yet to get with the program. I know: Science is tough for some people.
I'm relieved for the extension, hard as it is, and I would not have (and have not) changed my behavior with fewer restrictions. Hope also feels like a real and tangible thing for the first time in a long time. Vaccination arrives in WA State starting next week. As I work for an organization steeped in the Catholic faith, it has been referred to as our "star of Bethlehem" for 2020. I'm not a religious person, but it really does feel like a bright shining light in the not-so distant future. Signing up for as many shifts as I can to work non-RN/MD positions to help vaccinate my heathcare peers is bringing me the strength to keep doing my regular job, and then I'll take that needle as soon as it's offered to those not providing direct-care to COVID+ patients sometime in 2021. As dietitians, my team is seeing more mental health-associated dietary impacts in the outpatient setting, and an uptick in malnutrition in the inpatient setting (and particularly associated with complications from COVID-19). I have to imagine that both will outlast this pandemic, and I'm both energized and overwhelmed by thinking about how to meet that and do right by our community. Self-kindness and raging imposter-syndrome have been competing more than usual as the darker days of winter descend, and missing my septuagenarian parents, aunts, uncles, and far-flung friends is more acute. Other than that, we're soldiering on. Thanks for your podcast and written thoughts--I mostly listen as I'm either walking to or from work, and it has been a definite bright-spot as I gear up for or wind down from another day.
I'm mostly restless. I usually work from home so in some ways it is like it always is for me. I am grateful to be working and to have enough money to keep things going. Many of my friends are facing dire financial situations and I am keeping an eye out for resources for them. I worry about the future as governments, businesses and individuals are all getting to the end of their reserves financially. People are getting burned out from all the extra work of having their kids home from school and working from home at the same time. The hardest part has been the loss of several friends - one to covid, one to cancer, one to old age - last week. Many of my friends have been unable to see their elderly parents and are struggling. Others that I know are sick enough that they cannot work right now. I'm grateful for nature. Even when it is cold, I am going outside every day and I am trying to walk or drive or work in the yard - I need exercise and a sense of being in the right place. I have been through many hard things including the deaths of my family members, a messy and financially devastating breakup and job loss and I know I can get through this, too. One step at a time.
I think the hardest part about COVID is the loneliness. It has exacerbated our pre-existing lack of friends, but now I don’t know if there is any way to make friends even if we tried. My husband and I don’t have kids, so the holidays will just be us (no visiting family due to COVID.) Usually I treat my loneliness by spending time in nature, but it’s so cold and dark now. I’m quitting my job and going to college full-time starting in January, so I’m hoping the exposure to professors - albeit online - will be somewhat helpful to feel connection. Also, I’ll be able to get outside during the daylight. Looking forward to these small positives. Thanks for asking about us. :)
Well this year was surreal. At EWU, I teleworked part of the week since March and did lose my job in October due to the university’s budget cuts but managed to hold on and get rehired. Unemployment never helped even though I went from full-time to non-student hourly part-time but my tribe did help a bit with COVID cares act. I’m fortunate and It’s a permanent lump in the throat when I hear and see what’s happening to families across the country and in our own city.