Duuuuuuuuuuutchtica

“My cat, Daisy, has started getting a few gentlemen callers to the house. She has no interest in any of them but I tried to explain this to one of them. I call him Silken Thomas.”

“Hello!”

“Yeeagagioaw!”

*laughs* “Are you looking for Daisy? Huh? Are you? Are you looking for Daisy?”

“Nyaow.”

“Are you? Yes? Well, I’m sorry to say, but she - Daisy is not here. So you’re gonna have to come home later and even then, I don’t think she’ll see you, ok?”

“..?!! NKAEEYOW!”

“Hey, I don’t make the rules, buddy.”

“NOW! NAANG!… KAAang! Aghaowng!”

“I - hey, there’s no need to take your aggression out on me. I don’t… make the rules. Daisy doesn’t like you, ok, so -“

“krrrAAM!”

“Alright, you’re being very aggressive, sir, so I’m going to have to put an end to this conversation, ok? Ok. … … BOOP.”

Prank.

[ Sound optional, but fun. ]

This is huge! I’m so proud of them 😭

I’ve seen a lot of people joking about how they’ve been training for self isolation all their lives. That being an introvert has somehow prepared them for this situation. I’m sure most people expressing that are mostly joking, but I just want to make sure no one has a false sense of security. Isolation is difficult no matter what kind of ‘vert you are. I don’t say that to scare anyone. I just want people to prepare themselves appropriately. 

There are a few things you can do to keep from getting cabin fever. From my experience, I feel the three big ones are structure, diverse activities, and socializing. 

Keep a regular schedule. Waking up and going to sleep at the same time, eating at the same time… anything you can do to keep a loose structure to your day. 

Plan ahead. Don’t just wing what you will do in the moment. Even if it is just binging a TV show… plan for it. Pick out a couple of options ahead of time in case you don’t like the show. Make a big ol’ list of movies, TVs, and books. Maybe rank them in order of what you are most excited to watch. Extra points for color-coded spreadsheets. There is a great website called JustWatch that will tell you where any TV show or movie is available to stream.

If you are physically able, plan more active things too. There are a lot of streaming exercise programs popping up. Yoga and jazzercise and the thigh master. (I haven’t been able to exercise in 2 decades so my references are dated.) Hiking is good if you know an isolated spot. Put that into your schedule as well. “Friday afternoon” is much better than “I’ll try to do that at some point.” You’ll have a better chance of sticking to it. 

Don’t do chores when you feel like. Designate a laundry day. A cleaning day. A food prep day. 

Plan some hobby activities if you can. Build legos. Knit a sweater. Learn piano. Try not to do just one thing all the time or you will get bored of it. Even if you watch the 100 greatest movies of all time, that can get old. 

The more diverse you can keep your activities, the longer you can distract and occupy your mind. You cannot think about heavy, tragic things 100% of the time. Give yourself a break from that. 

And finally, even if you are the most introverted introvert of all time… you need a human connection every once in a while. Video chat with family and friends. Phone calls do not work as well. Being able to see their face and feel like they are there is vital. I talk to Delling and Katrina once a week and that seems to keep the loneliness tolerable. Plus visits with my parents upstairs and some playtime with Otis. You’ll have to figure out what you’re comfortable with. You may need less socializing than I do. But you absolutely positively need to talk to someone “face to face” on a regular basis. Please trust me on this. 

Things are going to be rough for a while. But I’ve been isolated like this for 20 years. It is manageable if you give it time. Don’t ever be afraid to ask for help when you need it. And try to lean on loved ones when things get hard. And let them lean on you when they need help. 

This is 100% true.