Day 26 of self-isolation.
It’s been one year since Nico passed, and I have to admit that if she was suffering, I had to take care of her as I did, and she passed today, I wouldn’t be in a good emotional state.
Also, I’ve been furloughed at my job, so money will be a tenuous issue in the next coming months.
This brings me to the point of this post: mental health. I have to say, all things considered, I’m really hanging in there. Sure, I might be living alone, slightly worried about how I’m going to financially sustain myself, and I no longer have the companionship of a dog, but I’m doing okay mentally. It’s others — namely my friends and my family — that I worry about.
But isn’t always the case: me worrying about others?
What I’ve been doing to combat loneliness and depression is keeping myself pre-occupied. It helps that I bought Final Fantasy VII: Remake, but I’ve been drawing and reading again (not to mention blogging). I’ve also been cooking a lot lately and trying out a lot of new recipes, some of which I’ll most likely share here. My garden is doing pretty well, and I spend some afternoons repotting, replanting, and de-weeding. I try and exercise everyday. Hobbies, as it would seem, are a great way to alleviate the boredom and the knowledge I’m confined.
I do watch and read the news a lot, and as depressing and anxiety-inducing as the updates and the politics are, I’ve grown a thicker skin to let it affect me emotionally. I’ve slowly learned that there are things I can’t fully control, and letting go of the situations beyond my agency allows me to feel a little more relaxed. In essence, you can’t change the way others think or behave (even on a national and global scale), but you can change your own comprehension of the world and your actions.
Coping appropriately and constant thought-stopping through hobbies, you see, are the best ways to fight the emotional symptoms of COVID-19. So save up, keep calm, hope for a better future, and keep yourself pre-occupied!