COPING WITH CORONA, PART 9…….A GOOD DAY FOR A DAYDREAM

Closets could be cleaned. Chicken could be cooked. Soup could be simmered. There are myriads of things to do when self-isolating. Today, I prefer the good ol’ fashioned daydream…….

Day dream : noun – a pleasant visionary usually wishful creation of the imagination (Merriam Webster Dictionary)

Day dream: noun – a series of pleasant thoughts that distract one’s attention from the present (Google)

Day dream: – noun – pleasant thoughts that make you forget about the present (Oxford Dictionary)

Day dream: – noun – a series of pleasant thoughts about something you would prefer to be doing or something you would like to achieve in the future…………… (Cambridge.org)

Today, I’m thinking of all the places I would love to travel to in my lifetime…..Egypt, China (The Great Wall for certain), The Ice Hotel in Quebec, Antarctia, Venice (AGAIN!)………the list goes on and on in my mind while I accomplish the mundane tasks of cooking and freezing food in case we have a “shelter in place” in the near future here in Florida. The art of the armchair travel keeps me sane while the travel restrictions are in place for the time being.

“What a day for a daydream
What a day for a daydreamin’ boy……..

And even if time ain’t really on my side
It’s one of those days for taking a walk outside
I’m blowing the day to take a walk in the sun
And fall on my face in somebody’s new mowed lawn

I’ve been havin’ a sweet dream
I’ve been dreamin’ since I woke up today
It’s starring me in my sweet dream….”

-“Daydream” by Lovin’ Spoonfuls

Life Is Good. Live while you are living. Go outside; get some fresh air…..OR…. maybe it’s time for a daydream today instead. Time to think about all the wonderful things you want to do when the virus clears the air. Keep dreaming. Keep sane.

Carpe Diem, friends….

COPING WITH CORONA, PART 8….THE FINE ART OF NIKSEN

The Dutch have it right. They actually have a word for doing nothing or being idle. The word is “Niksen.” In America, many have been conditioned to be super productive for all waking moments, or else we feel lazy. We even have a phrase that lauds the merits of multi-tasking, the colloquial phrase, to “kill two words with one stone.” But the Dutch know that there is a certain beauty of “doing nothing”, but with purpose, from time to time in order to reduce one’s stress level. Some gaze out the window while simply “being.” You can let your mind wander. It lets us dial down the noise in our lives while allowing everything to “be” around us without being an active participant in whatever is happening. Lying on your back in the grass watching the clouds roll by? That’s Niksen. Watching the waves crash upon the beach? That’s Niksen. Sitting on the couch and staring out the window on a rainy day? That’s Niksen. Laying on a bed looking at the ceiling? That’s Niksen. Sitting on a park bench watching the world go by? THAT’S Niksen.

While self-isolating because of corona, try a little Niksen; it’s good for the soul. In fact, the Dutch often use the phrase “lekker Niksen,” which means something like “deliciously nothing.” You might feel less stress from the corona situation if you dial it down, switch it off, and do nothing for a little while today if you can. You might even feel more productive, happier, and energized afterwards. You might even have the energy to clean that closet, you know the one that you have been putting off the WHOLE time you have been self-isolating, after all.

Life is good; the virus won’t live forever, and we won’t be living like

this forever. Carpe diem, friends…….

COPING WITH CORONA, PART 7…..OH SAY CAN YOU SEE?

While we are at war with Corona, we stand united knowing that we will eventually win the war together. There are so many beautiful things happening right around us at the same time this virus takes its toll on our health, our family, our homes, our communities, our nations, and our world. But there is a glimmer of light, a bright spot on a dark dark day…..

Oh say can you see….how our community comes together to help those who need help?

Oh say can you see………how wonderful it is to have extra time with our families while self-isolating?

Oh say can you see…..how we have learned we really can do with less stuff?

Oh say can you see…..how we now have more time to tackle those projects we put off like refinishing some furniture?

Using Annie Sloane Chalk paint by mail order from “Purple Painted Lady” in NY to go from “drab” to fab” in the garage

Oh say can you see……how most of the time we really have all that we need in our homes already?

Oh say can you see…….how spending time with a good old fashioned board game with those we love really beats the computer any day?

“Teen Traveler”, my daughter, pulled this game off her shelf. We bought it last year not having a clue how ironic with would be to play THIS year.

Oh say can you see…..how resourceful we can be when we really put our minds to it?

Oh say can you see…..how much better dinner time is with a home-cooked meal shared with those you love at the dinner table at the same time?

Oh say can you see……how exciting the thrill of a scavenger hunt to find toilet paper at the store is when shared with your child?

Oh say can you see……..how you can calm your child’s fears if you model calm behavior yourself?

“Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?…..”

-“The Star Spangled Banner”, The United States of America National Anthem, by Francis Scott Key

Life is good; find the bright spot in the dark day today………

So…….oh say what can you YOU see?

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: