How are you? I have realized that no one has actually asked how I am doing whilst sheltering in place. I have been inundated with exhortations to Be Thankful! Be Grateful! Smile! Cheer Up! but no one has actually asked me how I am really doing. Maybe this is you too? Maybe, like me, you are feeling anxious, stressed, wondering if you are going to have a job at the end of all this, when will the end come, what will the world look like and so on. I had to go through a range of emotions akin to the stages of grief. I realized I was grieving for all those deaths around the world and many more to come and also for the loss of our way of life. There has been a loss of innocence that strikes right at the heart of our existence. Those days of blithely spending hours in a crowded restaurant or cafe are long gone. One day, we will go to a restaurant again but I think there will always be that niggling sense of worry and fear. Can you even imagine trampling through a horde of people on Black Friday or Boxing Day? The very thought makes me break out into a cold sweat.
As the days and weeks passed, I began to settle into a semblance of a routine and to find ways to keep myself occupied at home. I have realized how important it is to nurture one's health with nutritious food and there is nothing more nutritious and comforting than homemade chicken soup.
Break out that fine china and cutlery that you only use a few times a year. You can easily make each meal an occasion by using the fancy china that you have been saving "for good." I have a set of Denby cutlery that I rarely use because the handles are made of the famous Denby pottery. In the above photo, you will see a Denby spoon.
I did a stock take of my kitchen cupboards and came across a tin of Ghirardelli hazelnut hot chocolate. I truly cannot remember how I acquired this tin but am so glad I discovered it. It is amazing!
It is so creamy and rich. The hazelnut flavour combined with the dense chocolate goodness is so satisfying. Diet, you say? What diet?
I also did some baking. I had a set of silicone cups that I had never used. In the spirit of making do with what I had on hand, especially now that grocery shopping is so arduous and flour has disappeared off the grocery shelves, I whipped up some oatmeal and applesauce muffins.
I must say that, in these times, it is important to not just be kind to others but to be kind to yourself as well. It is okay to feel what you are feeling. Lean into those emotions. There is no need for you to come out the other end as the next Mother Theresa or with a degree in astrophysics. Let me know how you are doing as I truly want to know.
