That’s the question we asked our followers on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and they served up some honest feelings and experiences.
Brendle Moss
“Physical Distancing yet remaining socially close. Living with my daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter. They are keeping the outside world away from me—disinfecting packages, groceries, and themselves when they’ve had to brave grocery shopping. Me, I’m passing along hopefully helpful information. #DontGiveUp”
—Wanda Brendle-Moss
“I am increasing my knitting knowledge, making a baby blanket for a friend.”
—Mark L. Grantham
Charles Sanchez
“One thing I’m doing to cope is baking. And also eating. Sometimes I bake cookies, like right here, and I can’t help it, eating the cookie dough straight out of the bowl. And don’t talk to me about raw egg danger. I’ve got bigger worries!
—Charles Sanchez
“My husband, Joshua, and I planted our garden and have been cleaning out flower beds.”
—Brady Dale Etzkorn-Morris
“I’m trying to focus on myself. Also, working on my resume and job search even though it is not a good time for that. In addition, learn new skills every day!”
—Christian Gabriel Reynoso
“I am a registered nurse and shift coordinator for an inpatient psychiatric unit. My hospital is a 120-bed facility in the rural Midwest. We are as prepared as we can be for the possible ‘surge’ of COVID patients. One of the most difficult things for me has been not knowing what will happen, and when. There has been so much information and so many changes recently is it difficult to keep up, so much so that one day my head literally felt like I had a funnel of information on my head to filter and distribute. I don’t have the luxury of self-isolation and at the same time worry about what my risk of exposure is. I have been making sure I get to bed on time, and to watch what I eat (which is a lot of not-so-good food lately). I try to be a cheerleader of sorts for my staff, recognizing that if we go down, the system goes down. We will see what the next several weeks hold for us in this area.”
—Joe Franklin
“Lots of breathing practices, eating a bit less (since I am less active), but lots of meditation and simple movement practices (somatic), and NOT watching the news. Also, cleaning things that I have not cleaned in a long time.”
—Per Erez
“Working mostly online, doing some indoor physical activities, reading some books, some online readings about HIV and STD, preparing a small project for community-based HIV services.”
—@HivAidsAlbania
“Work has been busy. I work for a university where we’ve had to switch to exclusively online delivery of our courses and associated services very rapidly—but in my spare time I’ve also been keeping busy with online watch parties of Doctor Who and the Eurovision song contest. I chair our LGBT+ staff network and we’re holding a virtual cheese and wine party tomorrow evening. Cheers!”
—Ant Babajee
“I distract from the craziness as best as I can. I’ve been taking lots of naps and reading! However, my recommended isolation is over; I go back to work tomorrow. I’ll be sure to have my sanitizer fully loaded and wash my hands often. My self-care after work will likely consist of a warm bath with candles then my book and my bed.”
—Marissa Gonzalez
“I am exercising and making sure I take the time to meditate about how grateful I am for so many things.”
— Andrea Johnson
“I coordinate a self-help/education group for HIV-positive veterans at the Hines VA as a volunteer. Since Hines has cancelled all volunteer activities for now, I started a private Facebook group called Hines PAV. Members can still be social during this time of distance. We used to have 15–25 guys show up for our bimonthly meetings. There are 21 members in the Facebook group. Most show up at least once day. Every day, I post a Good Morning, Family, along with any funny, informative, inspiring posts. Nothing political. I miss our bi-monthly meetings but for now this is the best I can do.”
—Roy Ferguson
“Family walks. Resting in the sun a minute—mom, daughter, and our three doggies.”
—Xio Mora-Lopez