Home Alone Together, Week Two: 6 Surprising Things That Cheered Me and Gave Me a Little Hope

I didn’t blog or even write the first week that things came to a crashing halt in the U.S. because I was dazed and confused trying to wrap my head around all the changes. (Scheduled reviews still posted.)

Suddenly talking about what plant-based meal I ate at a local restaurant seemed frivolous. And dangerous. And then it was not even possible as restaurants closed.

My plan to start blogging about Disney’s plant-based meals was kaput because Disney closed. Photographing print books became a little more challenging because the library closed. Everything seemed to be disappearing.

And as I walked through my days trying to adjust to change heaped on new change, I saw that everyone else was in the same capsizing boat.

And yet, in the midst of difficulty there were moments of connection. Despite our isolation and social distancing and preparation, there was a sense of community in the air.

We’re all in this together and lots of people are doing their best to uplift, encourage, and give hope. I want to spread cheer by passing along the people and things I saw this week that brought cheer to me. Maybe they will bring cheer to you, too.

1. This sweet home vlog

The Tim Tracker has vlogged nearly every day since 2008, I think. The past few years they’ve vlogged about Disney – construction updates, new rides, and events. Plus they vlog about other parks and the Central Florida area. And sometimes they vlog from other places like Disneyland or Dollywood, depending on their travels.

But there was a time a few years ago when mostly they vlogged about their lives. They had home vlogs in which they shared about moving or buying a house or home improvement projects. Or the time they realized they had an attic full of bats.

As they became more involved with Disney, the home vlogs were few and far between. The closing of all theme parks and attractions here in Orlando didn’t throw them for a loop, though. Having done it before, they are now posting home vlogs every day. An example that encouraged me.

If you’re bored, you can watch the older videos for Disney fun or other distractions. Watch the current videos because they just had a cute as a button baby, and because they are keeping the rest us entertained while they, like us, stay home alone.

2. This fun idea to make isolation a little less bad

Here’s something I saw in a Facebook group. Someone posted that she was turning her apartment into her neighborhood since she was social distancing. In an effort to be completely self-reliant for her social connection and entertainment needs, she labelled areas in her apartment that were substitutes for the real life versions in her neighborhood.

So she made her bathroom The Spa by posting a little sign. Her coffee maker became her neighborhood Cafe. The bookshelves were The Library. Someone else posted her version that included The Art Gallery and The Grocery Store.

And now I want to do this, too. I know I have a used bookstore, also a library, but maybe I can even do a corner dedicated to theme parks.

We are all trying to entertain ourselves, encourage ourselves, make the best out of a difficult situation. How resilient of us.

3. This virtual train journey

There is probably a YouTube video for everything.

I admit, on past work-from-home days, I would often play a YouTube video of office noises just to get into the spirit of the workday. And when I don’t feel like writing at the closest Starbucks, I’ll occasionally play coffee shop noise (or ambiance) videos.

But this video, Train Journey to the Norwegian Arctic Circle,  is even better. You can have a conductor’s eye view of a train traveling through Norway for 10 hours. If you’ve ever traveled by train or commuted by train to work as I did for many years, this will bring you that vibe.

I don’t know why this made me feel better, but sometimes it’s the little things. I do know that it came to me because someone else shared it because it was calming and soothing. Sharing is caring (it goes both ways).

4. My first video chat experience

Technically, my second video chat is what gave me all the feels. It was with my work team on our first all work-from-home day. We’d actually had a chat the day before at our office. We all closed our doors and then joined our video meeting and talked about who we could and couldn’t see or hear, who had terrible audio, and how to navigate this new-to-us technology.

Sometimes we are shoved kicking and screaming into using new technology. My workplace has been promoting Teams for everyone to use for almost a year. I’ve never Face-timed or done a video chat ever. I can hardly believe I’ve gone this long without doing that, actually.

But sitting alone in my apartment with five of my coworkers in little video squares was actually heartwarming.

We practiced video calling each other throughout the day and then had our first truly virtual all-team meeting. And I really appreciated being part of such a resilient and rise-to-the-challenge group. All of us braving this new world together. We did it and I’m proud of us.

5. This compelling work email

Have you ever read something that pinpointed so specifically a worry you’d been mulling? Maybe you had vague ideas of the worry but couldn’t quite put your finger on what the issue was. Or maybe you didn’t want to admit you even had this worry for fear of what other’s might think of you.

The headline of this email in my work in-box certainly grabbed my attention: How do you sell in a coronavirus environment? by Mark Schaefer.

A large part of my day job role is sales. And I’m very much aware that lots of people won’t be able to buy things or will be too distracted or busy surviving in the coming weeks.

As so many of us are experiencing, our everyday jobs are changing in sudden and drastic ways. You’ve got to work to pay the bills but suddenly what you do is not as essential as it was just yesterday. Yet it’s the only job you have.

Mark’s suggestion in his email/blog – and which he elaborates on in a Facebook Live video – makes so much sense in light of all of the losses we are all experiencing, both great and small.

As Mark says, “How would you sell to somebody at a funeral? … Would you put a hard sell on somebody who is grieving? Of course not.”

And while there is so much about right now that is unknown and completely new, the experiences of loss and grief that people are going through are familiar to me. I’ve had sudden losses and have gone through grief. And I can relate to people in that space with understanding. In fact, I write about it from time to time.

While it didn’t take away concerns for how my job might change, the message of the email did give me a small sense of stability in the shifting sand that is today’s reality.

6. This anxiety attack tip

Who isn’t experiencing anxiety right now? It’s only natural with the ocean of uncertainty that we’re all bobbing around in.

There were a lot of posts and comments this week in two groups I’m in on Facebook about anxiety. People expressing it and asking how to cope with it.

I experienced my first anxiety attacks last year while going through some difficulties I’ve written about here, and my psychologist gave me some good strategies for when I found myself in one or felt one coming on.

The one I found most helpful was to name all the things I could see right now. And use the word now. And say it out loud if you can. Now I see the chair. Now I see the mouse. Now I see the window. Name all the things you can see. It worked for me, either to come out of an attack, or to prevent one I could feel coming. Having a tool makes you feel more resilient, more able to cope.

As I searched from something visual I could share, I came across this version, which uses all five senses: Use Your Senses to Calm Anxiety          

Either right now, or the next time you realize you’re feeling anxious, try one of these. Or both.

So while everything is scary right now, there are bright points. I’m experiencing exactly the kind of response that George A. Bonanno talks about in the The Other Side of Sadness, which is about grief (book review to come soon). The cycle of sadness touched with hope, hope touched with sadness.

But in the midst of sadness this week, I spent time in Norway, had a major existential-ish question answered, watched uplifting people coping by encouraging others in their unique way, contributed to and felt more appreciation for my team, and shared an anxiety strategy with others. While practicing the same strategy myself.

final image hope bokeh by Edwin P M from Pixabay