Corona Chronicles...Groups? I'm in a Group?

So this is going to be posted in a couple of places, here and in a group I've joined on Facebook about journaling our way through the pandemic. Which is a much nicer title than Blogging the Apocalypse but it's not my group so they didn't ask me...

I normally don't join a ton of groups. I'm in a hockey one for the Winterhawks (no surprise there right?), one for a small group of friends where we can say what we REALLY think, though that one isn't super active, most people have gone to group messaging for that sort of thing, one for fans of Gaiman (though after Good Omens came out on TV that one became more of a FANS OF A TV SHOW! group so it's not nearly as geeky as it was), one that shares memes and now this one.

The reason why I don't generally join writing type groups is that I don't write like anyone else. Or very many people anyway. And I don't write for the same reasons so I'm not in a critique group or a beta reader group or a this is how you get published group or any other number of very helpful for real writers type groups.

But we are in different times right now. So when a friend asked if I wanted to join this journaling group I decided to go for it. And the following is my first entry for them. You all know me so it will seem a little weird and stilted to you, as well as WHY ARE YOU TELLING ME THINGS I ALREADY KNOW?? but they don't know me so I'm being NICE okay?? I can use my non-swear words in public like a goddamn grown-up if I have to...give me a fucking break...shit... (sorry needed to get them all out before doing the grown-up part. ;-)

April 6, 2020
Thanks for the add to the group. I'm struggling right now with keeping my writing going so I'm hoping to use this as a reminder to keep putting words on the screen. For my household this is really nothing more than an inconvenience. Or at least that's what it should feel like.

We are older, our son is grown and living on his own. I'm retired and my husband is able to work from home with very little change in his day. Fewer face to face meetings, more conference calls. Our son is working from home and his company has let them know that it will be at least the end of May before they are back in the office. But he has a job and a place to go back to and a nice apartment to stay safely tucked away in.

So really everything is fine. No homeschooling to worry about. No lack of employment. We can't eat out or go to the movies or to the theater or sporting events. Which is not really a big deal at all.

We are hard core introverts by nature. He is my best friend and I am his. We do everything together normally and enjoy each other's company. So this should be really easy.

And it is easy. Really. I mean it. It's only a slight inconvenience. I have to cook every day when I'd rather not. We can't go out whenever we want to. My husband isn't getting the face to face interactions with the people he works with. Going to the grocery store feels like an act of courage. Ordering online and bringing things into the house feels like inviting in a plague rat from 1347. But other than that... really easy.

So that's what I'm struggling with right now. The should be easy part. Because there is that part of my brain that is completely preoccupied with the "out there" and the fact that we can't really do much to make that better except what we are doing. Staying home, sending donations to organizations that are frontline. But it still feels so off kilter. It still feels like there is some "do this" piece I'm missing.

So that's who I am. I'm the should be easier but it's not person.

And that's what I posted for my first post in a new group. And I think that's what I'll do. Post there, post it here as well. But you guys will get the extra bits. Aren't you lucky?

Stay safe.
Stay home.
Keep doing what you need to do to feel normal.