Hey friend! How are you holding up? It’s day 1,454,590 of quarantine and Covid-19 drama. Back in April, when i wrote my last post, I honestly (and very naively) thought that this drama, this pandemic, would be over by now. Or at the very least, on it’s way to being over. Instead, it’s still here, and in Illinois it seems to be on the uptick again.

So if you’ve wondered where I’ve been, I’ve been home. Obviously. I’d love to tell you that I’ve used these 5 months to learn another language, have a studio full of masterpieces that I painted, perfected my sourdough recipe, or any cool thing that people have been using this time to do. But sadly, I haven’t done s***.

I’ve been experiencing a subtle underlying funk (depression?) and I wonder if you are experiencing it too? I’ve done the bare minimum in keeping up the house. Dishes in the sink for daaaaays. meh. Cooking? Thank God G cooks, or we’d be eating a ton of Cheeri-o’s. Or we order out. A lot. I have no energy. I’m not sleeping well. I’m not eating well (unless you count stress eating M&M’s- I’ve excelled at that.) Exercise? What’s that?

And I cry. All. The. Time. For seemingly no real reason. I mean, Isaac is wonderful and I love that I get to spend so much time with him! Everyone in my family is heathly. We have our jobs. I really have no reason to be sad, to cry, or be upset. It’s like life as usual. Except that it’s not.

I’m paranoid every time I have to leave the house. Or when G leaves the house. I would be utterly devastated if we inadvertently brought this virus home and my elderly (and not in the best health) mom got sick. Or if my sweet almost 17month old got sick. That would kill me.

So yeah, that’s how I’ve been. How are things with you? How have you been coping? What’s been super hard for you? What are some unexpected blessings? Let me know in the comment section below or shoot me an email aprilbern @ gmail dot com. I’d love to chat and offer some support and camaraderie.

2020 Mental Health Check-in