3 self-gifts during COVID-19

I’m back for week 5 of the Corona Diaries. It’s been a tough week, folks. My state has extended its safer at home mandate by another month, and while the real MVPs are healthcare heroes, grocery gurus, and delivery drivers, it got me thinking, while everyone is saving the world, how can we treat ourselves better and save ourselves during this time? So that’s why I’m suggesting these self-gifts, beyond staying safe, healthy, and home.

Give yourself space and silence.

I talked about how I can’t sit still last week. Intentional pausing gives time for introspection. Let yourself breathe: you are here, and that is a gift… even if the world is crazy, you control what you put out.

What does that look like? I’m really trying to not fill the air with chatter. It’s already a noisy world, why add unnecessary chaos? For the 2 places I go (my boyfriend’s place and my own), sometimes I don’t even turn on the radio. Then, space: because I’m working from home, I separate the day by actually moving the table where I work.

Don’t forget your small wins.

If you’re like me, you go from one activity to the next and leave out the self high-five, the selfie, the cheers. But now, more than ever, we are dependent on ourselves. So we should reward ourselves for learning to make coffee, for doing the laundry.

For me, the small wins are hitting a step count every day with daily kickboxing/pilates/yoga or some work-out combination. It’s seeing increased engagement in some content we make for work and being happy about it! It’s trying to read 20 pages every day, a measurable activity.

For my American readers, consider your stimulus check.

You ultimately have 2 choices, once you get it: save or spend it. Yes, recognize that some people need those resources for COL. The goal of the check is to stimulate the economy, so if you want to take this is as a “free” gift, and buy a PS4 like a handful of my peers, that is your prerogative. But don’t shame people who are saving it.

And I think that’s what we need to remember, in all of this: each individual must decide how to just keep going by being alone together during this time. But don’t forget to consider the emotional well-being of yourself, too. Give yourself these wins. So, my question for the day: how are you keeping yourself in check during COVID-19? Maybe you’re not consuming the news and creating? Maybe daily routines? Be well, and let me know in the comments!