A strange phenomenon has occurred during the last ten days or so and I'm not talking about COVID-19 itself. The world is beginning to shut down and this has led to a massive wave of reaching out. I have video chatted, or spoken on the phone with a friend or family member every single day … Continue reading The COVID Diaries: Connection
Empathy and the modern world
I'll never forget the day I went to see Saving Private Ryan with a bunch of my high school friends. I walked out of the theatre feeling like I'd been through emotional boot camp. I felt a dark and forbidding cloud hang over me for the next week. I didn't want to look at people, talk … Continue reading Empathy and the modern world
The COVID Diaries: Pandemic Aftercare
I never thought that a work meeting would inspire me to write a blog post, but inspiration can come from even the most seemingly uninspiring places. We were discussing the best term for following up on a project with 'debrief', 'follow up' and a few others making appearances but then my colleague offhandedly said, "how … Continue reading The COVID Diaries: Pandemic Aftercare
The COVID Diaries: The Cracks are Exposed
Should I be renaming this series the Post-Pandemic Diaries now? According to most world leaders the pandemic is over, and yet it's also not? They say things are back to normal, people should be back to normal and life should resume as per usual, and yet.... We are all so emotionally, physically and mentally depleted … Continue reading The COVID Diaries: The Cracks are Exposed
The COVID Diaries: The Adults Aren’t Alright
“I just give myself permission to suck…I find this hugely liberating.”—author John Green I'd like to formally apologize to everyone I know, or interact with these days. Why? Because I feel like I've been operating at about 50-60% capacity for the past two years, and I know I'm not at my best. In fact, some … Continue reading The COVID Diaries: The Adults Aren’t Alright
The COVID Diaries: So What Now?
I miss the feeling of taking off in a plane. That rush of noise filling yours ears and the lurch in your stomach as you leave the ground. The feeling that no matter where you're going, there is something unknown coming your way—the good kind of unknown, not the kind we have right now. I … Continue reading The COVID Diaries: So What Now?
The COVID Diaries: Russian Roulette
Click. My heart thuds in my chest. Click. I start to sweat. Click. My mind twirls around like a tornado. And then I wait for the next click that is surely meant for me. I lie in bed, insomnia gripping me and I can’t help but go down the rabbit hole of news article after … Continue reading The COVID Diaries: Russian Roulette
The COVID Diaries: CATS review
This morning I started writing a blog post about my fears around the B.C. government reopening our province and COVID-19 and getting sick and all that crap that we've been hearing about non-stop and I wrote and wrote and was finally like, "no. I just can't. I'm going to write about the CATS movie instead." … Continue reading The COVID Diaries: CATS review
The COVID Diaries: One Month In
Here I am—one month into quarantine and a global pandemic and social distancing and a whole new reality. Here I am in the raw. My face is pink from three hours in the glorious spring sunshine that my body was not at all prepared for. My eyes look tired from the restless sleeps I’ve had … Continue reading The COVID Diaries: One Month In
The COVID Diaries: Blame it on the Brain
The other day my family was zooming—and yes, I consider this a verb now, and somehow the topic of Milli Vanilli came up. For those who don't remember them, or weren't alive then, they were a brief one album wonder in the late '80s/early '90s whose fame came crashing down when it was discovered that … Continue reading The COVID Diaries: Blame it on the Brain
The COVID Diaries: Puzzled
The other night I stayed up way past my bedtime looking for the edge piece of a puzzle. I'd decided to pull down our specially reserved brand spanking new Jan van Haasteren puzzle—the only type of puzzle Zeke will do—because desperate times call for desperate measures. We normally only puzzle in the summer on vacation … Continue reading The COVID Diaries: Puzzled