Photo by John Cameron on Unsplash

Have you witnessed this?

If you have been in the stores lately, gathering items you need, you’ve seen this scene being played out across the country and around the world.

The Bay Area county where I live issued an unprecedented shelter in place order to mandate the social distancing that has been a suggestion to help flatten the curve of the spread of COVID-19.

I agree with the health officials. But buying ALL THE FOOD in ALL THE STORES when grocery stores will remain open makes no sense to me.

How can you keep your sanity when other people are losing theirs?

I’ve got three tips:

1. Practice Self-care
2. Pursue Creativity
3. Read

Practice Self-care includes getting enough sleep, regular exercise, eating healthy food, and practicing one’s spirituality. How much is enough? There is a lot of conventional wisdom regarding the recommended number of hours of sleep or the number of daily minutes of exercise; the definitions are readily available. What is considered healthy food is also well determined. How you practice your spirituality is not up for interpretation. I’m not here to tell you what those are; I am telling you that actually doing them will help you stay sane while other people decide to go crazy. I hear my mother’s voice in my head saying “just because someone else does the wrong thing doesn’t mean you have to do it too”. Thank you Mom.

Pursue Creativity, like the list of self-care practices, have a lot of support on the internet. I’m not going to tell you what type, or how to engage, in creative pursuits. I play my guitar 20 minutes a day right now. I’m considering increasing that amount. I use colored pencils and pens to draw Zentangles. I’ve taken up vegetarian/pescatarian cooking so hunting for and trying out new recipes is a creative pursuit for me. I also like gardening which can be both creative and a self-care practice. I use my imagination a lot which in and of itself is a regular creative pursuit. You get the idea.

Read. I could say a lot about this or I can let it stand alone. I’ll aim for a mid-point. Read different genres of books. Read a variety of news sources. Read to learn. Read to laugh. Read to expand your acceptance of differences. Read. Daily.

If you practice these three tips daily you will find your capacity will grow as you take in the information regarding COVID-19. You will remain a whole person not one who has succumbed to a scarcity mindset or been overcome by fear of the unknown.