Coronavirus: Things Hurricane Katrina Taught Me
Some things I learned during and after Hurricane Katrina when we lost our home, our city, and everything we knew about reality was turned upside down in a matter of hours. (These things might be helpful during the coronavirus crisis.)
Feast! Now is NOT the time for dieting. Stress eating during times like these is GOOD. We need comfort food when the shit hits the fan. Something needs to feel normal and give you a sense of well-being, and a full belly does that for you. Now is the time to indulge a little or even a lot. Feeding yourself and your family is primal, and it just feels right to eat bread, bake, and put on a few protective pounds.
You can't obsess about what's going to happen. Nothing could prepare us for the 18 months after Hurricane Katrina. We constantly ran scenarios in our minds to try to prepare for what we thought might happen, and reality always surprised us. Sometimes it was better, and sometimes it was worse. We had to learn to deal with only what was in front of us right now. Obsessing about whether or not we would lose our jobs (we did) or if our insurance would cover our mortgage (it did!) wouldn't change reality and just made us miserable. There's already plenty to weigh down your heart. Don't add to your already heavy load.
Unless you are on the front lines in times of crisis, there is so much downtime. Things can get really boring very quickly. This is an excellent opportunity for you to get into screaming fights with your partner, agonize over every negative possibility, convince yourself that this is the end of the world, etc. Don't do it! You must give your mind something to do or, I promise, you will quickly find yourself in an unhealthy spiral. You know all those projects that you would like to do that you never have time for? Now is the time! Read, watch hours of Netflix, play board games, experiment with your hair and makeup, weed your garden, meditate, dance, cook, clean, reorganize. Play with your pets. They're so happy you're home!
Sleep. I cannot stress this enough. You need to sleep. Sleep gives your brain a rest and allows you to react and respond when you need to during your waking hours. Nap. Doze. Sleep.
Go outside as much as you can. The walls close in quickly when you can't go anywhere. Play in your yard, sit on your porch or balcony, go for a walk in places where you won't come into contact with people. Get on your bike and zoom around. Read in a hammock. Open your windows and get fresh air into your home.
Talk to friends. Text. Email. Video call. Send each other dumb memes. Have virtual dinners with your nieces and nephews. Take pictures of your pets and send that fuzzy goodness out into the world. Connect.
Go easy on yourself. You're not going to 'do' the coronavirus perfectly. In fact, there is no way to 'do' the coronavirus perfectly. You're going to freak out, feel scared, get angry, be bored, obsess, waste time... You're a human being under an incredible amount of stress. All of the above advice is something my husband and I learned the hard way and through many mistakes — and we're certainly not going to 'do' the coronavirus perfectly either! Writing this is just as much for my benefit — a good reminder of lessons learned while under extreme pressure. Forgive yourself and the people you live with. Give them space to mess up so that when you mess up, they'll do the same for you.
