Check out Elephant’s Continually-updating Coronavirus Diary. ~ Waylon

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Relephant: “I’m avoiding the news right now.”

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Maybe it is a side effect of being an introvert or an empath, but I am downright worn out by the state of us. 

If I recap the severity or spread of COVID-19, I’m likely to pass out, so I won’t. You can find coverage elsewhere.

But for those of you who are unable to WFH (work from home), who must continue to go in to work each day for one reason or another, I offer my condolences. Or for those of you working from home who must edit endless articles on COVID-19 or feel compelled to keep writing about it.

You are being subjected to anxiety that is beyond your realm of control. You cannot silence your phone, turn off the television, or close out of the news tab on your computer to escape it all. You must continue to hear it all, from a variety of sources and emotional states, every day.

And it is exhausting. I am so tired. 

Last week, I could take it no longer. No more corona discussion. I asked the other five people sitting with me at lunch, at a reasonable distance away, to please describe for me what they are doing when they go home for the evening. Thankfully, they obliged and what followed was hilarious and witty accounts of personal behaviors amidst uncertain times. We laughed, we smiled, we shared. It acted as a group therapy session. And I think, for a brief time, we finally felt normal again.

So, as a quick reminder for those of us silently suffering from communal saturation of mind with COVID-19, ask your friends the banal questions of life today. 

Do not provide a recap of the number of live cases identified as of five minutes ago or the current value of the S&P 500 unless specifically asked to do so. 

Please do share where you obtained the latest two percent home refinancing rates and car deals. You know, economy stimulating/personally beneficial news. 

Listen here: Meditate when you feel overwhelmed and call a pal to connect instead of browsing your Instafeed. 

Sleep a lot. Drink a lot (of water). Have a Taylor Swift COVID-19 dance party and pretend to “Shake it Off,” and shed that viral load.

Remember we are in the midst of a marathon; let us pace ourselves.

Peace and love. Breathe deeply (away from others). 

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