Sitting at home in Ireland in a crisis
The world and I are in a crisis. It happened fast and I didn’t understand what was happening, or do anything about it.
I didn’t panic shop until there was a panic. I didn’t know I was supposed to buy face masks or gloves until there were none left in the shops. For heaven’s sake, I didn’t even know you could buy face masks in Ireland.
Then there were reports of needing to know what your temperature was, in order to know if you were sick. I pulled down the first aid box and discovered that our thermometer had a flat (irreplaceable during quarantine) battery. My Kiwi-Chef-Husband said “No problem, we’ll just use the meat thermometer”. Cue, test subject number one - Me - with a sharp spike under my arm to see if I was medium rare. It worked! No need to order a 70 euro thermometer from a possibly fake website. (Note, since then I have actually discovered a wine thermometer that is less spiky!)
Next came the paracetamol versus ibuprofen scare - better check that I have paracetamol - drat, the two tablets that I had, had expired. I kept them anyway - just in case, you know.
I felt stressed and worried and anxious. So, I climbed on a chair to delve into the back of the high cupboard above the fridge to find the bottle of ‘Kalms’ “for temporary relief of stress” - they too were expired! But I took one anyway. My stress level spiked off the scale. Now I was worried that the anti-stress pill was going to kill me itself. I had to go and stand outside in the night air and let the waves of hysteria pass over me. Crap, this is just the beginning! I still had to go to the office the next day.
Thankfully, for the moment, and for my nerves, the offices are all closed now and for the next few weeks. As I sit here and write, I haven’t left the house to a public place for almost 3 weeks. Plenty pf time to think and reassure my mind that the walls are not falling down.
During this time I have discovered that I hate nearly all my clothes. Once I thought I had an outfit for every occasion - probably when I was in my 20’s and living in the tropics. Now I don’t have an outfit for any occasion - in fact, half the clothes I have stem from that long ago era anyway. I don’t really own any lovely comfy and practical loungewear - clothes to play outside with the kids, cook and work at the computer. It seems too stuffy to put on a skirt and blouse and sit at home all day!
I know that there is a world of suffering out there, and a world of people continuing to stack shelves in supermarkets, never having imagined that they would once be regarded as heroes. I thank my blessings that my husband made it home from work abroad in time, and that my kids are happy to chat to their friends online, and that there is a beach less than 2km from our house - just to see the horizon.
Turning the light of positivity on, like so many others, during this forced-CTRL-ALT-DEL that the world has us on, I am re-discovering who I currently am. I am way more chilled out than I thought, for a start! And I am less worried about money - perhaps because we don’t spend any. I also have checked in with my values.
Spending a lot of time (too much!) on Instagram, I have had the chance to discover my absolute favourite small creators and write a big list of all the things that I would like to buy to support them and to add joy to our home. Spending so much time in the house, I see what works and what doesn’t and who we are as a family.
Here are a list of my favourites:
Most useful things I have read:
Think of your family and friends mental health before phoning them to rant about your worries.
This too will pass.
We are all equal and we are all connected.
This can either be an end or a new beginning.
Podcasts for sanity on a walk around and round the garden
The Great Indoors
Your Dream Life
The Food Medic
Things I am looking for
A monthly seasonal flower subscription
Brightly coloured handmade plates and bowls
Crystal glasses - tumblers and champagne glasses
Place mats and napkins
Essential oil burner
Matching glass jars for all the packets of dried things in the cupboard
Do you think we will all change after this - or go out on a great big spending binge as soon as shops are open. From what I hear of friends in countries that are re-opening, it is funnily enough the hairdresser that is the first port of call. What will yours be?