(except when it’s my bedroom)

The longer we are in this bloody pandemic, the harder it is to get out of bed in the mornings or even finding the energy to do many of life’s or my life’s routines. Raise your hand if you are feeling this. As much as I try to keep myself from being idle, it sometimes just doesn’t work. I think in my situation, I’m worried that if I take a break, I might not restart again. I know a huge part of the issue is the how dark it is in the mornings, and that will gradually change as we inch our way towards Spring, but nonetheless, it makes it hard. The lack of sunshine is also a strong contributing factor. The sad thing is, in the before times, I liked a gloomy day. My inner goth is really disappointed in me right now. Wait… this blog is supposed to be about joy.

Over the last 11 months, yes, it is getting close to a year of this, I have been trying to actively find joy, even if it is a tiny bit of it, and every day. There is a variety of things I try to do such as booking video chats with friends, so I have something to look forward to. A group of us have started a regular ‘watch a TV series’ together night. We are picking fun, light, comedies to help us all find something to laugh at. Another group of friends have a weekly online games night that we join in weekly. I also have regular chats with my parents and a few sewing/knitting/crafty friends. Thank goodness for Zoom! There are other ways to find bits of joy as well. Some things I do regularly when I’m starting to feel depression creep in is watch over the top British comedies such as the IT Crowd or movies like Shaun of the Dead. For a quick fix, I will watch that GIF of Wednesday Addams dancing and yes, kitten and puppy videos.

I mentioned in a previous post that I have started a list of the things I want to do once we are out of Covid Jail. I think it is important, or at least for me, as it helps me keep my eye on the prize. With vaccines there is a light at the end of the tunnel and I know we will there eventually. On days where it feels hopeless, it helps to find things to bring a bit of the happiness back. One huge lesson I’ve learned is not to take anything for granted.

What types of things do you do to bring joy into your life?