8 things saving my life right now.

During a virtual meeting this week, my supervisor brought up that we have officially spent more time working from home than we spent working in our office in 2020. 19 weeks and counting, which is totally surreal to me. Craig and I are both pretty stubborn homebodies under normal circumstances, but these days, we rarely leave the house unless it is to buy more toothpaste or get takeout from our favorite sushi place (and we always, always, always wear our masks). Every now and then, I get a pretty serious case of cabin fever, but I’ve found that being out and about in public does little to relieve my stress.

Because sharing is caring (except when it comes to droplets, no thank you!), I thought I might try to get back into the rhythm of keeping a log of the things that are giving me life and salvaging my sanity.

1. My local libraries. The people who know me best know that I have active library cards in three counties. Getting a library card is always the first thing I want to do when I move—something about it just makes me feel so, so grounded. I trust the recommendations of my #Bookstagram friends implicitly, so if I see a book that piques my interest, I make a beeline for my local libraries’ online catalogs. I’ve also committed to buying books from local bookstores as opposed to Amazon. Knowing that my dollars are going to my neighbors and our community feels a lot more grounding than shelling them out to a massive corporation.

2. The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu. I know, I know—deciding to dive headfirst into dystopian Gilead in 2020 is questionable at best, but this show is absolutely gripping. For all of the terror and abuse and gaslighting, but what stuns me are the very human moments woven through the story. Also, the acting and cinematography are wild and haunting and breathtaking. I’m also watching The Office, because balance.

3. Editing my social media lists and subscriptions, and taking breaks. Y’all, the internet is loud, and the constant barrage of everyone I’ve ever met’s stream of consciousness posts has become a little (read: way too) much. So while I love cultivating relationships and navigating different points of view, I’ve had to do some paring down for the sake of my own sanity. This goes for my inbox, too. If I search within my inbox and find multiple unopened emails from a company or creator, I know it is probably time to unsubscribe. I simply do not have enough space in my life for things that drain my soul instead of filling it.

4. Listening to this podcast in the evening. Craig argues that this qualifies as ASMR, but I don’t know about that. When I think ASMR, I think of awkward scratching and tapping and crunching and whispering way too close to the microphone. That kind of thing makes me feel cringey, which I think is the opposite of what it is supposed to do? Anyway, this podcast is not that. Each episode contains a story written and read by Katheryn Nicolai, who is absolutely delightful, and they make me feel the way I imagine it would feel like to live inside Kathleen Kelly’s head in You’ve Got Mail.

5. Going for walks and paying attention to my neighborhood. I have never been much of an outdoorsy person, but going for walks has proven to be one of the most helpful, life-giving things in this season. I go in the morning when everything is still dewy or in the evening during the golden hour. Sometimes, I will listen to an audiobook (I recommend “The Book of Delights,” by Ross Gay) or this playlist, and sometimes, I leave my headphones at home so I can hear car horns and birds squabbling. I can leave the house in an awful mood and come back feeling like a new human being. I’ve learned that there’s almost always a group of international students playing pick up soccer in the apartment complex next to ours, where the best smelling trees are, and exactly how far it is to the Little Free Library up the street. Also, I wave to every single neighbor I see because it makes me happy.

6. Journaling. This bottomless well of alone time has offered me so much time to think, ask questions, and follow threads, and lately, it seems like I can’t write things down fast enough. Often, I’m able to pick out recurring themes (like being grounded, for example), which is a pretty good indicator that I need to pay more attention to my thoughts and feelings surrounding those topics. Also, journaling serves as an excellent springboard for my weekly therapy sessions.

7. Pantsuit Politics. This podcast is everything a political conversation should be. Sarah and Beth are incredibly smart, but more than that, they are incredibly wise. They infuse every conversation with nuance (something that most other political conversations sorely lack) and grace, and I have never ever doubted that they really, truly care about the things that they talk about. I learn something new from every single episode, and I believe in their work so much that I recently signed up to support them financially through their Patreon—which is something that I have not done for any other podcast!

8. Phoning a friend. My people are literally saving my life right now, even though we can’t be together. Isolation lends itself to spiraling, and even though depression and anxiety are almost always lingering, knowing that I can reach out to a friend is helping tremendously these days. They refuse to let me get away with anything, including taking myself too seriously, and I love them even more than libraries.

What is saving your life these days? What’s working well, and what isn’t?