Coping with the new quarantine

Voices of isolation

Senior Influence reached out to new and existing contributors for their unique reactions to the current state of social distancing and isolation at home. Send in your reflections! We can read and learn from each other how to live through this deeply troubling phase.

By Judith Merritt

Roslindale, Mass.

Every day I am amazed by the realization that we are ALL going through the same events. My friends and family in Colorado, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, California, New York, everywhere, we are all in the same vessel, doing our very best to stay afloat, keep healthy and not spread this virus.

I live alone, so to keep perspective, I have four activities that I include in my daily schedule.

Connect- Each day, my main priority is to connect with friends and family. Technology offers many options - phone, text, Zoom, FaceTime and even in person. Last Saturday, my whole family gathered on Zoom to wish my granddaughter happy 20th birthday. It was fun to share much needed laughter and it was comforting to see smiling faces. I take the time to have spontaneous conversations with neighbors as we stand on opposite sides of the street.

I connect with nature, on my walks, in my backyard or even reading books and poetry about nature. I recently finished “The Overstory” by Richard Powers about the importance of trees to our planet.

I also make it a priority to connect with my health through daily exercise, eating well and getting plenty of sleep.

Because of social distancing, I miss the opportunity to connect with people where I do my volunteer work. I promise to be back as our world opens up again.

Create- When I have a whole day in front of me, taking time to create things is another way I express myself. I can’t paint a picture or draw a stick figure, but by writing in my journal, attempting new recipes, knitting, practicing my guitar, writing cards to friends…all these activities stimulate my creative juices and I find them very satisfying.

Sing- On my daily walks, I usually listen to playlists of my favorite musicians. With empty streets everywhere, I can belt out the songs that touch my heart. I try singing the harmony, reaching the high notes, and remembering the lyrics. I reminisce about the evenings years ago when I gathered with friends and family around the living room, strumming guitars, banjos and sometimes a fiddle. When I am in my kitchen cooking, I will sing along to my favorite shows like “The King and I” or “Les Miserables”. For me, giving voice to my joy and my suffering is authentic and sustaining. As Mark Nepo writes, ..“In giving voice to what lives within, even through the softest whisper, we allow the world of spirit to soften our pain.”

Meditate- And last but certainly not least, I have a daily meditation practice to keep me grounded in the present moment. Each day, I find time to sit comfortably and focus on my breathing. When anxious thoughts hijack my peace of mind, I gently bring my attention back to my in-breath, and my out-breath. I take time to be grateful for my many blessings and I am confident that we will all get through this difficult time…together. Namaste.

By Ann Hengerer

Potomac, Md.

I confess that initially, I was restless. I think this was because my work as an educational consultant required me to be in schools and interacting with teachers and students. Now that all the school systems with which I work have been closed down for the remainder of the school year, all my upcoming workshops have been cancelled or postponed until the fall (if then?). Since I had spent a large part of each day working, the days seemed to “loom large.”

However, I have gotten more relaxed as self isolation orders have continued. I am trying very hard to see the “silver lining” in my new found time at home. I have attempted to tackle the many many projects that I have neglected around the house. We have made two trips to Goodwill and to the county dump. It seems that we are not the only ones who are cleaning out. On our last trip to the dump, the line was enormously long. I sorted and organized all the recipes that I had clipped or downloaded and printed and placed haphazardly into a bulging folder. My goal is to go through all the photos that I have put into shoe boxes and to organize them in some way-scanning them or putting them into albums. I am not terribly optimistic that I will get to this overwhelming project. I have also been Zooming with friends, many of whom I have not seen in a very long time. I am reading more, and have started taking a much needed “Senior Shape” class online. My Book Club is having our meetings via conference call.

It is our poor dog, Jetta, who has become a victim of our restlessness. We walk her much more frequently because we feel the need to get out of the house and to be outside. Yesterday, she seemed to say, “Enough! You have taken me on 8 walks already. Please just let me sleep.”

By Betsy Levinson

Concord Mass.

As a journalist, I’ve stepped away from full-time newsroom work to take assignments I want to do from editors who are still working at the newspaper chain where I used to work.

Working freelance has, or had, allowed me to keep my hand in the game. I covered stories and talked to people in the same way I always had, just without the pressure of a deadline.

I was enjoying having control of my time, for the most part. With the time I regained, I started volunteering at our library. I met some fantastic men and women with whom I socialized on a weekly basis.

But now, everything has come to a standstill. The library is closed, the only time I leave the house is to grocery shop (wearing a scarf over my mouth and nose) or to rake up debris in our yard and clean.

Like many others, I wondered what it would be like, waking up with no commitments. Wouldn’t it be heaven, I imagined? Wouldn’t I be relishing all that time to myself, time to read, binge shows on my laptop, ride my bike, or paint?

It hasn’t turned out that way. It’s not the kind of retirement I looked forward to. It’s scary, and lonely. The speed with which my life came to a standstill is jarring. And I can’t see a way to a brighter day from here.

From an early age, I was taught to reach out and cooperate with others, not withdraw in the face of adversity. But today, helping others means staying home and watching my neighbors walk their dogs up the street. Strange days, indeed.

By Cathy Muzzy

Atlanta, GA

I wouldn’t recommend this as a solution to surviving the pandemic. I erroneously attempted to climb the stairs to my bedroom, missed the upper steps and plummeted to the base of the stairs, breaking one left side rib and two ankles.

This all happened about April 27 and I finally made it to rehab May 5. The highlight of my week was when I was allowed to take a shower. Do you know what it’s like to go two weeks with dirty hair? I’m really not complaining because I’ve got a lot of sleep, people wait on me hand and foot, and I’ve caught up on a lot of reading, and emails.