Maintaining daily life in crisis situations
The government, which delayed the opening of kindergartens, elementary, middle, and high schools nationwide last Monday for a week, decided to close daycare centers nationwide from today to the 8th of next month. In the case of me, the mother of a 4-year-old child, there was a case where a confirmed patient came near where I live, and in mid-February, I had not been able to send the daycare center for two weeks. The daycare center has been closed again after only a week after being re-enacted. Just yesterday, the story that flowed while reading a reading meeting with my mothers passed through my head.
Today may be our last meeting
The disaster called Corona 19 took away a peaceful life. Everything you believed you could control yourself is fading and disappearing. What I did every day, what I went every day, what I eat every day, what I listen to every day, all things I naturally chose, made, and acted on were constrained. It is a situation in which all the elements that have made’I’ are shaken.
The gloomy news that comes out every day calms down expectations and hopes. Viruses that are spreading, such as momentum, are spreading distrust and fear all over the world. In the current situation where rapid social turmoil and fear are encroaching on the world, it is impossible to determine who to trust, where to be safe, what to do, and what will happen in the future.
I am a person who feels joy in filling each day with precious things (I think). There are a few things I do on a daily basis, either unconsciously or consciously. Listening to one classic song a day, reading English for 10 minutes a day, stretching yoga once a day, throwing away one thing a day, giving thanks for 3 things a day, reading a book every day. Some have been practiced for more than a year, some have been around for half a year, and others have lasted for about two months. Every day, at the time given to me, I feel a small sense of accomplishment and satisfaction as I do something that I think is valuable and meaningful.
However, due to the Corona 19 incident, the balance of daily life began to break. As daycare centers, libraries, and sports centers were closed unexpectedly, the daily routine that had been steadily repeated began to crack. Personal time naturally decreased as homecare was conducted, and it became difficult to predict the daily routine as it was adjusted to the condition of the child. The problem is, this is likely to be prolonged.
I can hardly calm down, I just wandered around the living room for more than a few days these days, or a week or more. I couldn’t read, write, do yoga or meditation. Nothing was caught. It was very difficult to find composure in a situation where negative thoughts frequently messed up in my head and fear lifted my heart.
I was eager to know. Is there any way to protect me from anxiety? How can I keep my body and mind a little healthy? If this dark period is prolonged, it is crazy to think that it is the way for me and my family to find a way to quickly regain my composure and lead my daily life, rather than raising my hand like this.
One day, I remembered the words ‘I don’t lose my mood’ in the book “The Walking Person”. I opened this book again. Oddly enough, a sentence came to me that helped me in my current situation.
“For me, my daily routine serves as an anchor. Even in a crisis situation, the hope that I can return to my daily life by repeating the routine that I kept steadily every day seems to be dim.”
I read this sentence over and over again. His words,‘I can see hope that I can return to my daily life by repeating the routine’ brightly lit my heart.
I pledged. Don’t be swayed by things I can’t control and uncertain things, just focus on what I can do today. What I can do now, wash my hands often, wear a mask, and don’t go to crowded confined places. Then, a peaceful daily life will come soon.
The quotes of Benedict de Spinoza, the Dutch philosopher, come to a significant level. He stressed that even though the end of the world may come tomorrow, efforts to find composure to plant’my’ apple trees should not be put down.
Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.
It’s a time when I need a little effort every day to support me in fear, anxiety, and fear.