I was procrastinating big time on writing this week’s newsletter.
It’s been a little difficult to find positive things to write about this week, I’ll admit. In the US, my preferred candidate won the president-elect, which is great, but there’s so much discord and dissent still going on in the country that it feels we’re taking minuscule steps towards healing.
Covid-19 cases are surging, enough so that we had scares in my office and in my family due to others not taking this virus as seriously as they should. Or, rather, they are tired of doing so.
“Pandemic fatigue” is very real, especially at this time when communities are all planning and implementing more lock downs and restrictions to coincide with the holidays. The months are blurring together but the days are long, and people are just tired. It’s difficult to stay positive when you’re just trying to make it through each day and knowing that the Thanksgiving plans will involve much smaller gatherings rather than your entire family together.
This month, I’ve been able to focus on my writing, for it’s National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo, for short). Instead of starting a new project, I used this challenge to finish the first draft of a mystery. It was wonderful getting back into creative writing and have something on my mind other than the office and Covid-19 and the rocky transition of a new president. Even if I only wrote for an hour, that little spot of time keeping my focus on something I loved was enough.
Something to focus on, something that may seem little in comparison to a global pandemic, helps me stay sane throughout this pandemic fatigue. Case in point was me finishing the first draft of my story before I reached my NaNoWriMo goal, leaving me almost floundering as I slowly try to write one-shots and scenes from other projects. As I try to reach my writing goal, I need to shift my focus on other stories that I’ve enjoyed writing.
With all this, I’ve come to the realization that even the little things are capable of helping us move forward. You just have to recognize them.
Perhaps you can’t see your nephews in person for Thanksgiving, but the technology today allows us to video chat.
Maybe you’re usually the type of person who prefers to start playing Christmas music after Thanksgiving, but you can focus on the joy that the music brings to those who are listening early.
I can find pockets of these moments while watching TikTok videos of dogs or baking or painting or people dancing and acting, people who choose to focus on creating content rather than being listless.
Another way I’ve been trying to shift my focus is by reminding myself of hobbies that I enjoy. I’ve been making a conscious effort to relax with my video games, games that allow me to zone out or escape reality, or my artwork. At this time, I’m doing my best to recreate these moments and feelings, and not worrying about anything else, to retrain my brain into releasing serotonin.
This little newsletter of mine was created so I could focus more on finding positive things about the world. It’s okay if I need to create my own sometimes.