C19 Closure

I was telling a friend that I was feeling lazy to do anything, even the things I enjoy like going for walks in the city or practicing French and Spanish. She responded that it is not laziness but something else. This led me to the term C-19 Closure, which I explained as the state of not being able to plan for the future, or giving up on a few moments of joy because you know that you have to go back to a restricted life.

It is impossible for us to be happy every moment of our waking life and hence we are encouraged to take time throughout the day or as often as possible to “smell the roses”, and to give thanks for the good in our lives.

Lately, I have been failing at this, because of C-19 Closure. I am finding it difficult to fool my Brain into smelling roses because it knows that as soon as I smell that rose, C-19 closure will happen and to prevent the deep slide into the dark abbess of C-19 closure, my Brain does whatever it can to keep me safe.

The other day, when I found myself alone in my shared apartment, I had a thought, my Brain immediately piped in and said “you can run around the house naked all you want and enjoy your freedom, but why bother, you still have to go outside with a mask on and the Canadian border is closed, so traveling to Montreal is a no go."'

Then I thought maybe I should go into Manhattan, it piped in again and said “okay, you want to go into the city,  do you feel safe wandering into your go-to spot for a bathroom break?”

Then I yelled forget it, I will go and stand outside and get some fresh air. It then said, “You want to go outside for two minutes for fresh air, really? please, by the time you put on your coat, and mask, and refill your hand sanitizer and alcohol the Sun would have set.”

 Me, to the Brain, whatever, I am taking a nap.

Luckily for the rest of my body, well including the Brain, my perseverance and curiosity lead me to dive deeper into the workings of the brain, and the psychology around accomplishing goals. What I unearthed was much research, talks, and quotes that led me in the direction of seeking out ways to be free in the presence of restrictions.

I learned that to stay sane and motivated during this time of uncertainty, I should focus on what I can do now.  I learned that I should develop a few tricks to center myself which can be done by using my breath to either energize myself when I am feeling lethargy or calm myself when I am feeling anxious.  I learned that I should take a timeout and practice mindfulness by just focusing on what I am doing and let it be just that; just stay in the moment.

Today I came upon this post on Instagram by Colombian Actor/ Psychologist/Coach George Slebi.-@psicoslebi and It said it all; my game plan.

"Lo Pradadojico de Este Encierra Pandemico es que podemos ejercer nuestra propia libertad" G. Slebi

Translation by Google translate:

"The Paradox of this Pandemic enclosure is that we can exercise our freedom" G. Slebi.