Check in time

Today’s #WednesdayWords post is a friendly check-in.

These are scary times. I get it. I don’t know about you, but my own anxiety is definitely spiking. I’m finding it difficult to focus some days, or sleep some nights. If this is also you, know that I see you and we will get through this together.

So let’s talk about ways to cope. Self-care is an important part of my daily existence, but it hasn’t always been that way. I’ve had to be deliberate about bringing it into my life. Mostly it means I try to do something nice for myself every day. That can range from taking a nap (yep, napping is definitely a form of self-care in my world and not at all something to feel guilty about) to spending an extra hour reading a book I’m particularly enjoying. This past week, it’s also included playing the piano. I’m out of practice and my fingers are woefully out of shape, but I’m playing and it’s bringing me joy and that’s what matters.

Here are a few other ways I’ve found to help me through all the crazy. Maybe you’ll find one that speaks to you.

If you’re particularly anxious about COVID-19, or the shut-ins and quarantines, or the alarming lack of toilet paper, the Tapping Solution has an app and they’re making their series of tapping scripts for Coronavirus free to use. If you haven’t tried EFT tapping before, I recommend it. You can find out more about it here. You can find the app by searching for The Tapping Solution in your App Store. I’ve been using this technique for years and the app since it launched to help with my anxiety and other health issues and love it.

If you find yourself working from home, The Morning Brew newsletter put together a great work from home tip sheet, complete with handy-dandy play lists. You should check it out!

Speaking of playlists, fellow romance author Xio Axelrod has put together a quarantine playlist on Spotify. You can find it here, and follow Xio on Twitter @XioAxelrod.

Simplify Days, an organization I follow to help me live a more paperless and, well, simplified life, has put together a 10-day series of newsletters to bring happiness into your inbox. It starts today, and you have to sign up to get it, but who couldn’t use a little more happy in their email each day, right?

Also, I don’t know about you guys, but I have found myself on social media a lot more than usual. Last week, it was anxiety inducing gloom and doom posts that kept holding my fascination. Realizing what was happening, I decided to move away from those and focus instead on posts and feeds that made me feel better and sharing those. As a result, my anxiety has lessened and my Twitter feed, in particular, is now full of retweets of things that make me happy and, hopefully, you as well. You know. If you want to follow me. (Ahem.) Social media links are at the top.

Finally, let’s talk about practicing some kindness in amongst All The Crazy. I had a trip to NYC booked for next week that I canceled, much to my disappointment (I ❤️ you, NYC). To get everything squared away, I waited on the phone for almost an hour before someone from Chase Travel could help me. Frankly, I was expecting a haggard, frazzled, slightly frustrated customer service rep in a hurry to get to the next in the queue. But what I got was Rachel. Kind, funny, super helpful, patient Rachel. Please remember that she, and folks like her, are helping us. It’s not their fault our travel plans got waylaid. Be kind to whomever you’re working with or talking to, travel or otherwise. We’re all in this together. And a big, massive, Rocky Mountain sized thank you to Rachel for her help yesterday. Chase Travel is lucky to have you.

TL;DR: be gentle with yourself, take that nap if you need it. And be kind to your neighbors. Yes, even that one who always accuses you of letting your dog poop on his lawn even though you have a goldfish, not a dog. Even him.

Feel free to share your coping tips below, or tag me in your happy-inducing social media posts!

Hugs (from 6 feet away, of course)