Welcome to My (Our) Apocalypse

So, what a world, am I right? It seems as if overnight, everything we've known has been upended. The social structures that we've depended upon have gone up in smoke. We are isolated, in fear for our health, our economic stability, and the trustworthiness of the people who are supposed to protect us, support us and keep us safe. We don't know if things will ever be the same again. We are anxious and depressed and have no idea what the future will bring. 
I have been startled by this global pandemic, not because I was stunned and unprepared for this radical shift, but because suddenly, everyone in the world is living the life I've been dealing with for the last five years (at least.) Anyone who knows me from my past, whether five years ago, fifteen years ago or thirty, knows that I've disappeared from public life in many ways. And that's because my own life took some personal radical shifts that left me in this state of apocalypse. I am just now beginning to come out of it, and was looking forward to reentering the world when the pandemic and quarantine happened. 
I find myself actually doing better in this apocalypse than most, and there is a reason for it. It's because I've been living here for a while now, and have learned coping strategies, and have begun to rebuild my life from the ashes of the old. I've already dealt with the shock and trauma of the world being destroyed, and have begun healing. In some very literal ways as well as metaphorical ones. The stress from my tumultuous life and ensuing PTSD, then a bout of Epstein Barr, then more stress, then a summer of Attack of the Killer Mold caused a case of debilitating Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, only recently diagnosed as Hashimoto's Thyroiditis-- and the medical element has a part in this new crisis, so I wanted to clarify it.
As a person who has BTDT with major life apocalypses, (I like to call it apocalypsapalooza,) I wanted to offer a few tips on how to cope. I'm going to keep it short and simple, because it is easy to get overwhelmed in times like these. And because I can't do anything else but take things in small steps because of my circumstances.There's your first tip. Do not make big moves when you are overwhelmed. Move in baby steps. Okay, But moving on to my list.

• Take care of your health. I'm not joking. This is SUPER important. I don't just mean self isolating and wearing masks. I mean eat well, get sleep, don't overindulge in alcohol, take supplements, get exercise, release stress, talk to people who support you, don't do drugs and quit smoking. If your body is weak in its defenses it will be more vulnerable to COVID 19. Period. Strengthen your body and immune systems. My autoimmune disease has taught me this, and if I hadn't been very careful with my health since my diagnosis, I might have gotten much sicker than I did when I came down with symptoms of the virus. I was never sick enough to get tested, but now I'm better. I am relieved that I was taking care of my health, because I WAS sick and I caught everything that came around and it dragged me down. And you do NOT want to be in a weakened state if you come down with COVID 19. The catch 22 is that the stress and isolation from this emergency can weaken you and cause you to not take care of yourself. 
• Reduce your COL if you are economically insecure right now. Decide what things are necessities and get rid of the excess costs. You might have to be ruthless about it for a while. Re-evaluate is important in your life. Put your time, energy and money into the important things and learn to let go of the things that do not serve your life. Be careful, because it's easy to decide things that feed your soul are not necessary, but in times like these, you need to feed your soul to keep your energy and hope up.
• Find a way to be creative and express yourself. This is part of feeding your soul. Being stuck inside and living life online can make you feel disconnected and not real. MAKING something out of nothing is a way to ground yourself, offers relaxation, gives you a sense of control over something, is a way to get your story and feelings out. This doesn't have to be a traditional art like painting or dancing or writing a novel like we see so many people doing now. It could be gardening or cooking or decorating your house or organizing or singing in the shower or carpentry or keeping a journal or whatever feeds you. It helps.
• Speaking of help. ASK FOR HELP. If anything, this pandemic is showing us that we are all interconnected and what affects one of us affects everyone else. If you need to reach out for help, do it. Do NOT feel ashamed if you need help. We all do right now. If you have friends or family you can lean on, do it. And help them where you can. If you need to sign up for governmental assistance because you can't pay your rent or grocery bill. DO IT. The systems in place that kept our society running have collapsed and it turns out we're all vulnerable, and the government is there to make sure our society keeps running. Get whatever help you can. 

I am going to stop here. Because while there are other things to do in the apocalypse, and I could get more indepth on what I've written, remember we're taking things slowly so as not to overwhelm. These are simple and basic coping strategies. Be healthy. Live smaller. Be creative. Ask for help. 

If this helped you or you'd like to hear more about coping in the apocalypse-- I mean pandemic then buy me a ko-fi and encourage me to keep writing my advice and essays and ruminations and sharing them with you here.