Kate Allen

Assessing changes to your life- COVID 19 Lockdown

Written by Kate • May 8, 2020 •
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Have you taken the time to assess your life and all the changes the pandemic has brought to your life?

My partner and I made the decision to self isolate as a family in mid- March so we’re coming up on two months of a radically changed lifestyle.

To be clear, my partner is able to work from home, my business is internet-based, and we have young kids so for us the self-isolation doesn’t mean that much change, for which we are thankful. We aren’t having too much about worry about a loss of income or at all about getting our kids to finish their school year.

For us, the biggest changes in our routine have been stopping the kids from going to playgrounds (indoor and out), no camping, no more hiking the Appalachian Trail because apparently it’s a mob scene out there, and no more visiting family and friends.

The other big effect for us has been the mental and emotional stress of worrying about the health of everyone in the world, the financial impact of this on our friends and family here and abroad and on societies in general, and when will this end.

I took a big emotional hit personally when I heard – in early April- that Virginia was extending the lock down through June 10th. It took me a week to recover from the stress of that, imagining that I couldn’t cope with such an extended lockdown. And I find myself worrying about whether school will open in the fall for me kids to attend school and what we’ll do if it doesn’t (and even if it does). So much fretting about the future, over situations I have no control over and knowing that worry doesn’t help.

But like most changes, we slowly begin to accept the new normal. And in looking at the data, we’ve made the decision to continue with our own personal lock-down for the foreseeable future.

I’ve been ruminating recently about what this lockdown has shown me about the way I’ve been living my life, in automatic mode.

I see that:

1. I set myself such a busy schedule that I’ve been rushing to to get my kids to playgrounds, to visit my Dad, to make sure the kids’ lives are enriched. So much rushing and all of it unnecessary.
2. My kids love being home with us, getting our attention. They don’t always need more stimulation. They just want attention.
3. I miss people and hugs and human interaction.
4. My habits needed a spring cleaning so that I’m spending more time doing what I want to do rather than feel overwhelmed by all the things I’m not doing, in order to meet my busy schedule.
5. Planning food for the week, including a menu and buying to the menu at a once weekly trip to the store, is easy, efficient, massively reduces food waste, saves time and trips to the store, and enables me keep to my plan when I’m tired.
6. I spent way too much time on my phone/on apps.
7. I love routines that support me and I can build routines from nearly any new change.

Now that we’ve nestled in to our new normal, I’m so grateful for all of the positive aspects I’ve learned and insights I’ve gained from what I call the Great Pause.

We almost always fear great upheaval. In this case, I wouldn’t wish the deaths and financial stress on anyone anywhere. I know this is hard for so many.

I am, by nature, an optimist and I always try to see what good any change brings me. For me, this Pause has given me many gifts and I’m grateful for them.

Don’t forget the environment- even in a pandemic (hand sanitizer and soap bottles)

Written by Kate • April 2, 2020 •
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The moment I saw all of the posts about how the entire liquid soap and hand sanitizer section were empty in all the stores, I immediately thought of where those bottles will end up. Here in the US, they will likely go into a recycle bin and then possibly recycled.

But in developing countries, they will likely end up in a trash pile and then through whatever mechanism, it’ll send up in the sea. Floating forever (or the next 500 years), polluting our oceans, sickening sea life, and humans. Some will wash up on shores.

The Western world has been transporting our trash for years and now they are returning the trash to us, because we can’t even recycle well. Malaysia, China, and more countries are finally forcing us to reckon with our trash.

I spent 9 months last year in Bali and every time I went to any beach, so much trash. It caused me to feel such rage and sorrow at the same time. I felt so angry at people for throwing their trash out to only up in the sea. And it was then that I realized we need to permanently reduce our consumption of plastic.

I’ve since stopped buying bottles of shampoo, hair conditioner, or lotion. I’m trying out different brands of shampoo and the like. It’s not the same but I’m determined to never buy another plastic bottle filled with anything when there are alternatives.

Here is my post about some alternatives to consider.

Remember soap works better than hand sanitizers. And bar soap works as well as liquid soap. And bar soaps come in boxes.

We still have to live on this planet when this is all over. Let’s try to make it a better place once we emerge from our social isolation.