Borrowed from a FB friend that turned into a ton of interesting replies. My answer: Home gym. Writing a book. Alcohol. I should probably add hiking.
The first answer that popped into my head was: I’m not.
I basically doomscroll for a few hours every morning, then pull out and become productive at some point during the day to varying degrees. Today I laid on my bed doomscrolling until 1pm - about as late as I go. I have carpal tunnel I think. Working out in the afternoon is my sanctuary. I drag it out as long as I can. Then I drink mescal and hopefully make some progress on the book.
It’s like my old weekly cycle when I was partying on the weekends, then depressed Mon-Wed, then pulling out and doing it all over again. Except I do it all in one 24-hour period.
So what is everyone else doing to stay sane? Or not stay sane? Or get by?
Been walking about 1.5-2 hours daily now that gyms aren’t safe. Really miss gyms, really miss group hikes on the weekends. Podcasts and audiobooks have been keeping me mostly sane. You need some kind of exercise or you’re gonna crack imo.
I wasn’t sane to start 2020 so I just do what I’ve always done, play poker and dick around on the internet.
I’ve also been watching football basically whenever it is on and eating edibles. I take a walk around the area most days and tomorrow I’ll probably walk a couple miles to the government building and ask for a ballot since those assholes still haven’t mailed mine.
I bought the xbox game pass mostly to check out No Man’s Sky and I am disappoint. More disappoint that they don’t make any new golf or tennis games anymore. Been doing good work on the treadmill since July (-15lbs); but mostly I’m lying to myself that I’m in a better place to handle the next four years of Emperor Regeneron.
I also have 6 months worth of Bounty paper towels, but don’t dox me and loot me, ty.
One useful thing about having a young kid is that he’s mostly unaware what’s happening and, when you’re the one looking after him, takes all of your attention. So even in full lockdown I spent at least half my day in a normal, (usually) enjoyable activity that took my mind off it. Just before this all happened I figured parents of young kids would have it tougher than average, but I think that’s exactly opposite.
Should add that if you’re a single parent and/or don’t have a comfortable living space to stay in most of the time, then I suspect my words of privileged wisdom wouldn’t hold.
I would humbly suggest that nothing will change on Tuesday, and that the key to your sanity is becoming ok with uncertainty and tension.
The election will be a big moment and there will be large emotional reactions–assuming a Biden win, lots of you here will feel much better for a little while. But the fundamental uncertainty remains. COVID, the economy, racism, social justice issues, the environment, protests … Be ok with not knowing what will happen. For me, I move towards this point through meditation and a focus on non-dualism.
My sense is that many people are deeply identified with the chaos and have strong emotional responses. But it is possible to remain aware and engaged, working for change, without suffering the toll.
We’ve been doing mostly ok during summer in my house. The addition of a camper helped, and we spent most weekends out camping…
…But with the onset of the long, cold, and wet PNW winter, I’ve had to start looking for other stuff to keep the family busy.
So, and there’s a minor risk here, but I think it’s worth it for the family’s sanity. I went back to my childhood and bought my daughter and myself really fast R/C cars and we go to the (indoor) track a couple of days a week and bash around. Hopefully that’ll keep us busy over the winter because the things we normally do (traveling, seeing friends) isn’t going to happen.
I also started playing tennis a day or two a week but that’s coming to an end with the weather, unless I want to start playing indoors.
I also mostly doomscroll from 8a-5p, M-F, with interruptions for work meetings and emails. I have a bunch of big projects I"m a part of but for some reason they haven’t required much of my attention.
ETA: I’m drinking more than I used to, but that’s still not a lot. I’m mostly a social drinker, but have taken to having a glass of scotch a few days a week. My edible consumption has also gone up from one every couple of weeks to a couple every week.
I don’t really feel stressed out at all and I’m pretty much doing the same shit I always do minus spending time with friends and going to the gym and bars/restaurants. I have the ability to just not give a fuck about stuff, kind of like a less extreme version of the dude in Office Space. A lot of people might see that as a negative but i think it’s great.
As for what i do I still go to work everyday and at home i read, play video games, workout, golf (well that is basically done for the winter), play with the dogs, watch tv/movies. Been wanting to learn the drums for a long time so I might grab an electronic kit soon and give that a go this winter. I’d love a real kit but my wife and dogs would probably hate me real quick
Exercise is big, blended with outdoor / nonscreen time for max effect. I think the only thing I do different than most is take some free courses on Edx instead of just watching TV shows. Its a bit more engaging and triggers lots of positive thoughts.
Sleep. Like 12-14 hours a day in bed, though some of that time is trying to read or more likely thinking about all the personal crap that’s gone on the last year.
Exercise. It doesn’t make me feel a lot better, but if I didn’t I’d feel a lot worse. It’s mainly basic body weight exercises. Push-ups, pull-ups, squats (haven’t in a while due to back issues but ready to try again), walking. Lots of walking. I’ve taken more control of my diet and lost 15 pounds since the start of Summer. I look better which is great, but there’s no one to appreciate it. The isolation sucks.
Self-edification. Ok, not really due to lack of focus but I try. I swear I will finish reading Galapagos if it kills me. Also reading a book on programming in Python. First foray in that area in a while. I bought a beginner’s guitar. It’s my 3rd, I think. Never have learned to play a lick. Also bought some online classes at Udemy. GIMP and guitar. Haven’t gotten very far.
So basically just treading water. Here is some nice wholesome Halloween fun for you guys
