for us, it’s week 6

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine on Facebook mentioned that she had been in self-isolation a couple of weeks before the rest of the United States went into seclusion. She had been ill — not with Covid-19 — and by the time she was well, her state had issued a shelter-in-place order. “Just so you know, weeks 3 and 4 were really hard for me,” she said, “but eventually, you find a rhythm.”

A few months ago, a friend who lives in China said the same. “At first, it feels novel, maybe even a bit exciting. And then the isolation … it’s tough. But after a couple of months, you just … settle in.”

Toward the end of last week — week 5 — things felt difficult to me. And this week has felt a bit wearying as well ( and here in our oil town of Houston, the oil market crash was alarming, to say the very least). Finally, yesterday, my poor Alex hit a wall. And since I had no idea how to make her feel better, I made her take a walk around the block with me.

By the time we’d returned home, she felt a bit better.

Earlier this week, I was listening to my friend Brené’s new podcast, Unlocking Us, and came across an episode about our collective weariness, touching on comparative suffering, the 50/50 myth, and “settling the ball.” As always, Brené’s wisdom was spot on. So if you’re feeling a bit weary, go pour yourself a cuppa, and please be sure to take a listen. It’s only about 25 minutes long, and absolutely worth every last second.

And may we all begin to settle the ball. Even if it takes walks around the block and copious amounts of extra sweet tea to do it.

Soundtrack: Are you with me by Lost Frequencies

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