What an unbelievable time to be alive! For everyone around the world, irrespective of age and place, these times are sure to be full of uncertainties, fear and at the very least, an all-consuming boredom. As negative thoughts and feelings take over us, the need to hold on to any amount of normalcy is of paramount importance. And this little blog post is about how I am holding on to my sanity. Well, at least trying to!

I’ve found (with the help of the unending barrage of inspirational Instagram posts, I might add) that the main thing is having a routine. I suppose previously, our normal lives were so meticulously lived that even doing nothing was a scheduled activity, something we waited for and worked towards.

This routine could mean anything, really. The daily elaborate meal you cook for yourself or your family, a short (socially distanced) walk, a quick or arduous workout, a phone call to a dear friend or a loved one are all parts of the new norm. Mine particularly include a personal concert I throw for my towels and shampoo bottles in the shower, dropping an ill constructed “watchu doin?” message to my friends, reading, and catching up on the things on the quieter side of life that I no longer have an excuse not to do. For the first time in my life, having an assignment to write is a welcome change of pace and I find myself truly enjoying having something to delve into. I even bought a plant that I spend a shameless amount of time pruning. The actual size of the plant should clarify the need for shamelessness.

There is no rule book on how to live a normal life, let alone one so bizarre and unprecedented. So, I’ve made an active effort to tell myself that those who are using this time to learn a new skill, build new muscles and take up new hobbies, are doing the best they can to cope. To others who are not able to do that, seeing people on social media live a productive lifestyle could add to the sense of crippling helplessness. To them, I would say that it’s okay to not emerge from this pandemic a ripped genius. It’s perfectly okay to find your space and to deal with things at your own pace. No one has this easy, and the best we can do is hold on to the little things like a simple routine or an upbeat song, and to hold on tighter to those we love.

Some of us are stuck far from home and everyone we know. But there is some solace in knowing that the cliché “this too shall pass” is now truer than ever. We are the resilient kind and we will be okay.