Seven Covid Funks and How to Break Out of Them to Keep Your Heart Happy in 2021

Bummer.

2021 hasn’t been better than 2020 so far.
 
On top of political turmoil and skyrocketing Covid numbers, my anxiety shot through the roof during a 48-hour span when my car battery died, a front molar cracked, and a leaky water pipe flooded our laundry room and adjacent hallway. 
 
I know I'm blessed to be healthy and have a roof over my head when so many struggle. Still, it takes every coping strategy in my tool box to push away worries, and I constantly battle to stay upbeat. Here’s what I've done to shake off seven funks in Covid 2021. Hope something here helps you, too.

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​Funk 1:           I am glued to the news, and it is mostly AWFUL
Like many Americans, I can’t get my head around the takeover of the U.S. Capitol, and I fear more civil unrest and division. Plus, global updates on Covid and its variants are constant gut punches.

Cat's newsfeed "light"

​Fix:     
I know what you’re thinking. Nope.

Can't totally turn off current events. This is history in the making, and I want to be present. Instead, I decide on a "newsfeed-light" – quick morning and evening check-ins, plus lots of good-news feeds.

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​Funk 2:           I can’t sleep
Always a night owl and light sleeper, the strange dreams and restlessness I experienced at the start of the pandemic return to haunt me. It takes forever to nod off, and I get up a few hours later, exhausted and edgy, moving through the day like a zombie on 3 or 4 hours of sleep.

Never a nap person, I don't consider a daytime snooze. And since I devour books digitally, reading to chill before bed doesn’t help, either. 
 
Fix:     

• Stop caffeine after my morning cuppa and lunch-time ice tea work miracles
  
• Cut off all content that's dark or disturbing.
  
• Check my next day’s calendar before turning out the lights to write down any nagging worries, so they won’t chase me at night. ​

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​Funk 3:           I don't feel like posting on social media
I don’t feel I have anything engaging or uplifting to offer my friends and followers. ​Can't bring myself to post on my Facebook or Instagram pages, despite a FOMO.

Fix: 

• Give myself permission to stay off social media for as long as it takes to shake off feeling overwhelmed and hopeless.
  
• Unsubscribe (gasp!) to dozens of seldom-read email subscriptions and delete unused accounts like Linked In. Twitter is next!  

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​Funk 4:           My heart isn’t in writing
There’s a school of thought that advises authors to write every day, no matter what. That doesn’t work for me. Authoring is hard and lonely during the best of times. In Covid days, I'm beyond weary and mind-maxed to write a jot.

Finding a peaceful writing nook

Fix: 

• Go slow to go fast later; avoid burnout: 
  ​I stop authoring until my head clears (see fix #6). Before tackling my next book, a feel-good women’s fiction, I give myself permission to leave authoring until my soul refreshes. I'll get back to it. Stronger, better and excited to be at the keyboard again.
• Rearrange and tidy up a peaceful writing room
  

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Writing Update: 
​Reading with Your Kids Podcast
The pandemic had a profound influence on my co-writing a new book for tweens, Just Between Sam and Me, with Rosie Russell,   

My lockdown experience strengthened the portrayal of our 11-yo main character. As she struggles with bullying and a toxic-to-her school environment, I was similarly grappling  with the realities of a toxic pandemic. Many of my feelings and challenges are woven into her journey. 

Rosie and I discuss this impact, the state of education today, and more with host Jed Dougherty in his Reading With Your Kids Podcast (see 14-min mark).

We'd love for you to click over to  our convo below.

Young readers connect virtually with each other over "Sam"

Cat and Rosie – On the Reading With Your Kids Podcast
HERE

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​Funk 5:           I worry about our nation’s divisiveness

Fix:

•  I don't engage or get sucked into political firestorms. Period. (see Fix #1)
• I unfollow anyone and anything spreading falsehoods, violence and hate from any extremist view – left or right. Zero tolerance.

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​Funk 6:           Everything feels hard; where's the joy?

​Fix: 
Aside from not sleeping, this is the worst. So even if I don't feel like it, I make myself find something fun to make those happiness endorphins kick in:

Foray into baking banana bread

• Safe-distance deliver Valentine's cards and chocolate treats to neighborhood kids and home care residents, who've beenmisolated in their room for nearly a year due to Covid 
• Bake banana bread from scratch (huge accomplishment for non-baker me). Oh, that aroma!
• Join a welcoming online fitness group of women who get me moving and burning off the irksome quarantine 15.
• Finally tackle that "easy" (NOT!) lace stitch pattern with yarn that's been waiting for me since I purchased it last February.

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• Rejoice in public TV's timely reboot of All Things Great and Small and its peaceful Yorkshire Dales setting.
• Dive into happies on Netflix: Binge Bridgerton – (What eye candy -:D!);  Giggle over the effervescent dramedy, Mozart in the Jungle.
• Pull out my vacation photo journals to bring back lovely memories.
• Experiment with my digital camera lenses and photo-editing apps.

Beach Memories - Oak Island, NC

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Funk 7:           I fret about surging Covid rates and mutations

Fix:                 

• I control what I can by social distancing and masking up.
• Order groceries and necessities online using curbside, contact-free pickup.
• On 8 January, I score BIG!
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Happy Cat: Vax #1

I'm beyond lucky to be one of the first in my circle under new CDC guidelines to get my Covid shot. YIPPY!

I encourage eligible friends and family to keep trying for theirs despite the frustrating process and limited supplies. 

My dearest wish is that everyone gets vaccinated as soon as possible, and we return to a more-normal life. I can't wait to see family, give hugs and go out in public!

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Ups and Downs

So far, my fight against the funks is mostly successful. 

But they always loom like Pigpen’s cloud, threatening to bring me down. I can’t always fight them off. But I'll keep trying.  
 
My wise author pal, Julie Gorges, suggests finding one inspirational word to pursue for personal and writerly growth in 2021. My inspiration word is perennial.

February snow on Cat's hardy perennials

Like the hardy perennials resting now in my garden, I'm hunkering down to survive a pandemic that feels like a million winters. Like blooms that return each spring, I'm determined to pop up when Covid goes away, refreshed, healthy and blooming gloriously among others who kept me company in long, dark months.

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Your Turn

What makes your heart happy in hard times? If you experience stress and anxiety during Covid, I hope you, too, can keep your funk to the curb. Please share in the comments what’s working for you. I’d love to hear, and give it a try. 

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