HOW ARE YOU COPING?

Todays post is written by my good friend Lisa who posts more regularly at her blog The Meaning of Me.Lisa is an accomplished and insightful writer ( and more importantly charmer of persnickety cats). Lisa often leaves me thinking from a different perspective while at the same time assuring me that she absolutely knows where I’m coming from because she’s living it too. Enjoy this piece, embrace it and take comfort in knowing you’re not alone with your thoughts. We’re all out there with you. Z~

How are you coping with all of this?
That has been the ready question on everyone’s lips for the last several months. It’s become the new small talk – sort of like “Where are you from” or “What do you do?”
How are you coping?
The question was asked so many times by so many people in so many contexts, that it became the only thing I could hear. And the only thing I could think to answer when it came up was, “I’m not.”
It’s true. I had a similar experience many years ago after my father died. People said a lot of things to express their condolences, but the one that stuck out in my mind was, “I’m so sorry you lost your father.” And the first thing that popped into my head every single time was, “I didn’t lose him. I know precisely where he is.”
So, you see, my “I’m not coping” response is sort of on par for me.
But what I suppose I have to add here is that the inside-my-head version of my coping reply was – and still is – “I’m not coping. I’m just being.”
This whole pandemic scenario came on hard and fast. I don’t have to list all the things that changed. You know what happened. It happened in your part of the world, too. Life changed in a lot of ways for a lot of people. But my truth is that life here really did not change much. We had to make some minor adjustments and then we just got back to business in a new way. Don’t get me wrong – we all do feel the change and we do feel stress and worry about all of this. But it is not as drastic or traumatic as it has been for others out there. I have had many moments when I feel completely grateful but also completely guilty about that. (That’s a whole other discussion.) But mostly, we’re keeping on.
So no, I do not have a sourdough starting in the back of the fridge or on the windowsill or wherever it is you’re supposed to do that. I have not cleaned out my closets. I have not super-cleaned the house. I have not put a dent in my “to be read” or “to be watched” lists. I have not learned a new language or developed any other new skill, despite all the social media memes that suggest I’m somehow doing it wrong if I emerge from pandemic lockdown without these tasks to my credit.
Pfft. Whatever.
What I have been doing is learning more about myself. I mean what else is there to do when you’re confined to quarters? Seriously, though, this experience has indeed caused me to turn inward and consider who I am right now and who I want to become. I’ve thought a lot about what is important to me and what is not. What do/don’t I spend time on and are those good choices? I’ve spent a lot of time thinking (and worrying) about what happens when we all emerge from this lockdown phase. And so on and so on.
The long and short of it is, I don’t see any of this as coping so much as being. As living. Because this, right now? This is life. No matter what it looks like and no matter how good or bad it happens to be for any of us, it’s still the life that is – at least for the foreseeable future. And just like we can’t put off our goals until the time is right, none of us can put off living until this gets better or until there’s a vaccine or whatever you want to fill in that blank. I realize that may seem easy to say for someone whose world has not been significantly altered. But I also realize that the scenario can change in a split second, as we all know all too well.
So my advice to anyone who asks and (still) my answer to anyone who wants to know? Don’t cope. Live. Spend time with yourself. Acknowledge your fears, your anxieties, your struggles, your blessings. Decide what to keep and what to toss if that feels like something you have the mental space to think about. Or…just be. Rest or sleep or eat or binge TV if that’s what you have mental space for.
There’s no right or wrong way to do this. Take things one day at a time. Just live.

 

Lisa A. Listwa is a self-employed writer and author with experience in education, publishing, and martial arts. Believing there was more to life than punching someone else’s time clock and inspired by the words of Henry David Thoreau, she traded her life as a high school educator for a life as a writer and hasn’t looked back. She is mother to one glorious handful of a daughter, wife to the nicest guy on the planet, and reluctant but devoted owner of three Rotten Cats.
You can find their adventures and thoughts on living life deliberately on her blog at http://www.TheMeaningofMe.com.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LAListwa
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LAListwa
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/LAListwa

Living In the Company of Dogs

I have a good friend who spends more time with dogs than she does with humans. I personally think she knows something the rest of us are missing.  She puts out a post called, you guessed it, Living In the Company of Dogs. The column is a daily dose of positivity and common sense. It not only starts my day off right,  but gives me a place to reanchor myself on those days that I feel unmoored. Go visit it yourself or just enjoy a brief snapshot of it here.

Guest Post: Kristi of Thankful Me

I have met a host of amazing people in the blogosphere,  not the least of which is my good friend Kristi from Thankful Me. Kristi is an unassuming, gentle and genuinely kind person who helped  me through one of the tougher segments of my life. That “unassuming” thing is a nonjudgemental and often understated way of  guiding you down a path of patient self forgiveness and coping, all the while teaching skills to improve the human condition one person at a time.

Please welcome Kristi and let us know what you’re  thinking in the comments! Thanks, z~

A friend of mine recently told me, “I have more time now, but I’m getting less done.” The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the routines of many of us, forcing us to adapt the way we used to do things, and has introduced a measure of new stress into our lives. As we try to make sense of the situation, we look to others. In this “free” time, one friend is painting her house. Other friends post on social media about various activities: baking, gardening, reading, organizing, and watching TV. So many people have posted photos of completed puzzles, I have wondered if I was in the wrong for not having a puzzle in progress on my kitchen table. I questioned if I was using my time wisely.

How do we get motivated and find satisfaction in what we do? As I am intimately acquainted with my shortcomings and, like my friend, have days when I feel like the more time I have, the less I accomplish, I don’t claim to have all the answers. What I do know is what helps me, when I allow myself to believe it: LITTLE BY LITTLE. My life is a process, and things take time. Every little effort counts. I love this quote by W. Timothy G¬¬allwey:
“When we plant a rose seed in the earth, we notice that it is small, but we do not criticize it as “rootless and stemless.” We treat it as a seed, giving it the water and nourishment required of a seed. When it first shoots up out of the earth, we don’t condemn it as immature and underdeveloped; nor do we criticize the buds for not being open when they appear. We stand in wonder at the process taking place and give the plant the care it needs at each stage of its development. The rose is a rose from the time it is a seed to the time it dies. Within it, at all times, it contains its whole potential. It seems to be constantly in the process of change; yet at each state, at each moment, it is perfectly all right as it is.”
― W. Timothy Gallwey, The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance
It’s easy to recognize what is not complete, whether that is a skill, a character trait, or a home improvement project. Those who are familiar with the Sermon on the Mount have invariably heard, “Be ye therefore perfect. . . .” and might have felt discouraged. When I learned that the word in the original Greek denotes completion, though, I felt encouraged. Like the rose plant mentioned by Gallwey, I haven’t reached my full potential yet. And, as I believe in life after death, I think I will still be progressing in the afterworld. I can afford to be patient with myself (and others).
(For an excellent, more in-depth article about perfection and the Sermon on the Mount, see “Be Ye Therefore Perfect—Eventually” by Jeffrey R. Holland.)
Sometimes the idea of perfection, in the traditional, “make no mistakes” sense, immobilizes action of any kind. Why start or try something if you are just going to fail? The “little by little” mentality subscribes to the “A for effort” philosophy. The big project might not be complete (perfect), but progress is made step by step. An oft-quoted phrase in the Book of Mormon states, “. . . by small and simple things are great things brought to pass. . . .” (Alma 37:6) You don’t have to be a religious person to recognize the truth of that statement. As a young child, I loved the Christmas cartoon classic, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” The catchy chorus of the song, “Just Put One Foot in Front of the Other,” taught the same idea that small, simple steps can result in great changes:
Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking ‘cross the floor
You put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking out the door

Of course, deciding to just start begs another question, one that Alice asks the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland:

“Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
The Cheshire Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.
Alice: I don’t much care where.
The Cheshire Cat: Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go.
Alice: …So long as I get somewhere.
The Cheshire Cat: Oh, you’re sure to do that, if only you walk long enough.”
We have freedom! Doing a puzzle, reading a book, watching TV, painting a house, gardening, organizing—those are choices, not items on a COVID-19 checklist. We get to decide where we want to get to, and if we even care. That decision is personal. My friend who painted her entire house is not more correct than my friend who completed a Star Trek puzzle, or vice versa. We can celebrate our different talents, interests, and hobbies—including our own. At the end of the day, regardless of how much I have gotten done, if I have used my time doing good things—which definition varies from person to person and even day to day—I have been had a successful day.
Within that freedom, though, I have found that there are general guiding principles that make a difference in how I feel about my time. My days go better when I am not the center of my universe. For me, that means spending time daily in prayer and scripture study. If I miss either of those activities, the day is off somehow. Acknowledgement of God, His enabling power, His care and concern, and my gratitude for Him, helps me to remember I can “be still, and know that [He] is God.” (Psalm 46:10). Your own religious views will determine what that looks like in your life, but I would encourage you to think outside yourself each day.
Another way to step outside yourself, is to do something for others. Again, service looks different to different people, and can change with stage of life or different circumstances. I don’t see as many people in person now, but I can make phone calls, and send texts to let friends and family know I care. I am still donating whole blood at the Red Cross every 8 weeks. I’ve done some volunteer work online, indexing records for family history. There are plenty of opportunities to help others, even in this time of social distancing. Find something that appeals to you. Service doesn’t have to be difficult or time-consuming to be beneficial. Remember, little by little. A small act of kindness can make someone’s day brighter. Justserve.org is a website that provides lots of ideas for service opportunities, if you need help coming up with something.
While focusing on others is a key to happiness, it’s good to remember to take care of yourself, too. When I exercise, eat healthy foods, and get enough sleep, I feel better and have more gratitude for my physical body. Likewise, spending time in creative pursuits and hobbies adds joy to the day. I recently glued pieces of driftwood onto heart-shaped boards—something I had never done before—and was surprised at how much fun that simple activity was. Whatever your interests are, give yourself permission to enjoy them. My to-do list is long enough that I will never run out of should-do’s, but want-to-do’s can take priority sometimes.
When my friend stated, “I feel like I have more time now, but I’m getting less done,” my initial mental response was that I could relate. As I pondered more on her statement, though, I felt like telling her—and myself, and anyone else who needs to hear it—that most likely, she is doing just fine. Little by little, things are happening, and life is progressing. LITTLE BY LITTLE.

Kristi Brierley blogs at ThankfulMe.net, where she encourages all to live with a thankful heart. Mom to five wonderful adults, and Grandma to five adorable children, Kristi currently lives in Utah with her loving husband of 33 years and her devoted yellow lab, Drexel. She loves family history, laughing, travel, and raspberries.

So Much Time And Yet…

Is it possible to have so much time and still not have enough to…oh lets say….put up a new blog post?

Let me at least put up some AWESOME links that you can try out until I write a proper post.

HERE WE GO!

• ANXIETY VIDEOS These are worth watching more than once
• GUIDED MEDITATION Can’t  seem to stop your head but can’t  concentrate  either? Let someone  guide you through a relaxing few minutes.
• STRESS REDUCTION  No doubt we could all use a bit of this right now
• PBS
• FREE RESOURCES  for meditation and just extroidinary info for life management . Intuitive and Spiritual  is an amazing source of great info generously  given for free…everything  from downloadable  coloring  pages of mandalas to guided meditation…

Ok gotta go…I will add to this later today…y’know when I have more time!!!

SNAP OUT OF IT!

Like most people,  I am subject to falling prey to my baser moods. It’s  now been over 30 days in quarantine and  although  I’m  pretty proud of myself for keeping it together, I’ve been kinda snippy this week. All honesty? Ive been a bit of a b****.

Most of us have a series of tools that keep us from acting like a total jerk.

• Get outside and clear your head
  

  

  

  
• Sweat it off! Exercise will increase your bodies natural endorphins. We have what we need within us…we just need to activate it. You don’t have to run a marathon. Take a walk! You’re strong! You can do this! Do it!
• Go to the resources that have helped in the past. Think about when you’ve felt like this before. What helped then could help now.
• Just because you’re  in isolation doesn’t mean you have to isolate. We live in an age where we can be in touch with our support system by email, text, phone call, snail mail, you can even holler over the back fence and go old school. Don’t  cut yourself  off when you need people most. Don’t  convince yourself  they won’t  want to hear from you. They do. They are isolated too.
• Remember: Don’t  fall into the social media traps. Forgo the judgement of others and just do you.
• Use new resources made available to you.How many times have we all said ” nah, that won’t  work,” before we even looked into a suggestion? Truth is, you don’t  know if something  will be helpful until you try it. A good friend and colleague has made these videos available for people  dealing with anxiety. Go ahead and watch them. They are really helpful! ANXIETY  VIDEOS
• Be grateful. There are many proven benefits to adopting an attitude of gratitude. Being thankful for even small changes is going to be important to your continued success. I am not going to reinvent the wheel, so let me just send you to the right place to witness what I’m peddling here: Benefitsof Gratitude (Suffice it to say it’s everything from improved sleep to forward career advancement.
• Accepting what you can’t change is not weakness, it’s smart. You don’t have to like quarantine, you don’t have to like home schooling, you don’t have to like wearing a face mask or gloves or the constant smell of hand sanitizer, but you do have to accept it if you want to stay healthy. There are ways to alleviate the  consequences of too much hand washing!
• Treat yourself to something special.
• Do something for someone else. Yeah, I know you would sooner kick someone as do something nice for them right now. I mean, they’re on your last nerve! You know as well as I do that in the long run you never feel better after acting out. Avoid it and do something nice for someone. Nothing huge…”I’m making a cup of tea, would you like one?” is enough.
• Eat healthy food, get enough sleep… do the things you know you must to take care of yourself.  Now is not the time to skip your vitamins or your blood pressure  meds , or….
• You don’t have to take yourself soooo seriously.
  

  

• Be careful, stay strong and be good to yourself and others.

How Are You Passing Time?

I texted.

Ok…remember when I asked you to put pants on your head?

Well in the same spirit, I’m asking that you stop and text me a pic of where or how you are spending quarantine….I will share some on my blog….thanks! Lyd

You responded.

*Arts and crafts, *gardening,  *opening an online site (Sarahhshg.threadless.com), * rug hooking, *fine dining at home

*new puppy, *watching eaglets hatch,*rearrange to accommodate a friend,*self help, *pottery or any other passion

*sewing facemasks, *learning sustainability, *prepping to paint, *hanging out in the garden, *getting outdoors

*hanging  with the grandkids

*puzzles, *doctoring (thanks you guys), *baking, *quilting

*soup *work *shop for supplies *staying in *reading* happy birthday

*What have you been up to?

Friday Mavens

I was never cut out to be the voice of reason. Luckily, one of the basic tenets of my belief system is that the majority of us are living a fairly similar experience. That means everyone has something to offer, everyone is an authority . We are all experts.

There is much to be gained from stepping back and considering all perspectives, so why go it alone?  If we all have a unique view of life then shouldn’t we avail ourselves of every available resource?

That being said, Carrot is starting a series of guest posts from everday people like you and me, who are undeclared mavens of life.

First up is my good friend Ryan. I met Ryan in his capacity  as an acupuncturist after I had sustained a pretty serious back injury. I think it’s safe to say we both respect and benefit from the other’s expertise on just about anything. Ryan is funny, compassionate and truth be known, possessed of one of the more thought out viewpoints I’ve encountered. I often accuse him of being too detail oriented (if there is such a thing). So before I give him too much ammunition to throw back in my face, I will turn the page over to him.

Decisions, Freedom, Desire, And Joy
By Ryan Heath Less

I am not sure, but I bet sociologists have measured how many decisions the average person makes in a single day. Its probably a lot more than we would guess. Decisions are a truly interesting thing. Digging a little deeper, below the surface of our decisions, can provide us an amazing amount of insight into ourselves, and in the process, bring tons of freedom and joy.

A couple years ago, I was trying to decide how to deal with someone who I’d known for a long time. We can call her Tudy. As I explained my Tudy dilemma to a friend of mine, I was in a tortured mental state. I felt a certain obligation to Tudy on the one hand, but on the other, I felt like I deserved to be free of my sense of obligation to Tudy. I wanted to figure out what was the right thing to do.

My very wise friend made a deeply insightful observation. He said, “I’ve noticed something about you. Every time you need to make a decision, you try to figure out what the right choice would be.” Then he went on to ask the mother of all question, “Have you ever considered just doing what you actually want to do?”

Whoa Nelly!!! I had not considered that in a very long time. I had been trying to really walk the path of a good, decent person, and somewhere along the lines, I had lost all perspective. I had a belief running in my head somewhere, that the right thing, and the thing that feels good to me, must be mutually exclusive.

Ask yourself this: what does my decision tell me about myself? The next time you are interacting with someone, and you make a decision, gently let yourself observe what it was that led you to that decision. And don’t judge yourself over it. Be like an impartial scientist just objectively collecting data. In my case with Tudy, I was anxious. I didn’t want to deal with her getting angry if I said no, which she was prone to do. I also didn’t want her to label me as ‘selfish’, leaving me feeling guilty.

The more you observe the process behind your decisions, the freer you become. The freer you become, the more joyous and light you become. That statement is true for the simple fact that we run on auto pilot far more than we realize. Therefore, shining a light on why we are making the decisions we do can be truly liberating. When I dug deeper, I realized that I had nothing to feel guilty about. Tudy was her own worst enemy. There is an oft repeated phrase, “Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency for me”. Sadly, Tudy was the living embodiment of emergency and crisis.

Each of us has all sorts of things that inform our decisions. We could have so called Catholic guilt, or maybe we are a people pleaser, or perhaps we believe that a real man should behave a certain way. The list goes on and on. There may be some things you already know about yourself. But, as you go through your daily life, watching what goes through your mind as you decide on something, you’ll find plenty of times when strange things come to the surface.

I once went into a restaurant with a friend. The chicken marsala looked delicious. But, I felt like I should choose a healthy option. I went back and forth, and finally decided on falafel and a salad. You know what happened? I ended up still thinking about the chicken marsala when I got home. Eventually, in my feverish food lust, I went into the kitchen and stuffed my face. I wasted $12 on a meal I didn’t want, and ended up eating two dinners!! I thought I was making the right decision with the falafel. But I wasn’t. Keep an eye out for the chicken marsalas in your life. Because, sometime, doing what you want, actually leads to less problems and more satisfaction.

Ryan Heath Less LAc., M.S has been a practicing acupunturist and herbalist for 20 years. Currently, he is using this quarantine downtime to work on his forthcoming books. You can reach him at ryanacupuncture@gmail.com http://www.neahclinic.com

 

 

 

OF POODLES, EASTER EGGS AND THE GREAT SMELL OF BREAD

SO here at Carrot it’s all about the nurture. What do you do to stay motivated, positive (I feel I need a disclaimer here of “as possible”), and doing the things to bring yourself forward (or at least not down).

I have been trying to exercise more and find I keep being thwarted by a conflicting lack of desire.. So, any recumbant cycling or dog walking, stretching or (to be honest) movement  beyond my normal is rewarded.

When I catch myself kvetching about not exercising, I have a choice ….move my butt, or  do something besides berate myself so I don’t have to listen to the internal voices of doom…. SO what have I been doing? Nothing specific, but there are a number of things that really help…

Recognizing that in any situation  there is cause for gratitude is not always immediately helpful but given just a moment and that changes. There are many proven benefits to adopting an attitude of gratitude. Being thankful for even small changes is going to be important to peace of mind. I am not going to reinvent the wheel, so let me just send you to the right place to witness what I’m peddling here: Benefitsof Gratitude (Suffice it to say it’s everything from improved sleep to forward career advancement.

In some circles she is known as the Pirate  She appreciates the little stuff that I would take for granted if I didn’t get to see it through her eyes once in a while. Who are you connecting  with? Even if you’re  home alone,  we live in a time where the internet serves to connect us. Wether it’s to family, friends or joining an online group, stay connected in a positive way! Don’t  fall into the social media traps. Forgo the judgement of others and just do you.

I have been experimenting with baking yeast free bread which for some reason I find calms me down. Maybe it’s  because I now have a lot of bird food and enough bricks to lay down a new patio. It hasn’t been  overly  successful  but Im learning and while I’m not sure if it’s the process or the great smells, either way it works.

Did you know there are only something like 5,000,000 different tutorials on Youtube? You can learn how to paint, how to make a tik tok video, how to train your parakeet, how to make an igloo, how to….well you get the idea. Dont  know what  you  want  to  do? Go explore until something strikes your fancy….creativity helps. I’m  not leaving this house, so I have reverted to mailing my mother homemade cards. She loves them! I have gotten a few from a niece and I love them! Brighten someone’s  day with home made snail mail.

Some things just come along at certain times of the year… but I have to admit as silly as it sounds I have been known to die an egg or 12 even if it’s not Easter…

SO what keeps you going? Have you been writing? dancing? play championship ping-pong? Let us in on it!

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…And the Procrastinator of the Year Award Goes TO…..

If you’re  anything like most people ,taking care of others comes easier than taking care of yourself. Why does it take so much effort to  stay on the track of good self care? Most of us are  usually willing to put it off.

What are some of your favorite reasons for putting things off? Me personally? I am the queen of because I just don’t feel like it. I’ve been known to put things off for lots of reasons: because it won’t work anyway, because I may suck at it, because I’ve never done it before and would prefer less stress to do it the first time, because it’s boring, because it’s difficult, because it’s otherwise unpleasant… because… because… because…

What does this all boil down to? Well, I think it means I’m an anxious nut job with a bad case of being a brat. But, how  do you avoid anxiety? You don’t! You hit it head on because avoiding anything gives it more power over you, and makes doing it the next time (and there WILL be a next time!) worse. However, that is a conversation for a different post, because today, I am here to address the finer points of acting like a total brat.

YOU KNOW YOU’VE DONE IT! C’MON! REPEAT AFTER ME IN YOUR WHINIEST VOICE POSSIBLE! THROW A LITTLE NASAL TONE INTO THIS ONE!

BUT I DON’T WAAAAAAAAANNNT TO!

Sorry, but I’m here to say…you really gotta…

You may rightfully notice, that in the last post I said it was smart to cut yourself some slack as need be. I also said if it becomes a pattern you should assess how often that is happening, and find another alternative to get your goal met. You may need to take a different route than the way you originally mapped your expectations. All that is still true.

You know just as I do, that there are plenty of times, not even health related times, that you put something off because you just don’t feel like doing it. That’s because somewhere along the line we convinced ourselves that if it’s an important goal we should want to do what it takes to get there. In all honesty, I would rather not get up an hour early to stretch before work. But last I checked, the dog didn’t wake in the night and bungy cord me to the bed, so I do it. Because I can. ” I can’t get up that early,” is a total falsehood. I can. I don’t want to. But I can.

Commitment to what you want to accomplish, commitment to your goal and even to  flexibility  in getting there is important. To expect that you always need to FEEL like doing what it’s going to take… is too much. Sometimes  you need to be like Spock…stop feeling…just the facts…”I will reach my goals if I do this…it’s important to reach this goal.”

Acceptance is what’s important. Accept that you don’t have to like it, but in order to feel better you still have to do it!

So if you need to make an effort toward better self care, NOW is the time to act. It’s not easy during these times, but totally  worth the effort.

What are some of your favorite ways to take care during this quarantine?

**** Again parts of this are reposts so you may see your own comment down there from a few years back but the comments were so good I didn’t want to erase them. So feel free to comment again …I would really appreciate it.

It’s Only Day 17, I Can’t Be Running Out of Stuff to Do Already

This is just one of a few quickie posts with ideas about how to fill some time…

*BOREDOM has…

…often pushed me to the edge of silliness. Recently it led me to ask people to put pants on their heads. In truth, it wasn’t boredom as much as a desire for a bit of fun. We had fun! It cost nothing and no one had to leave the house.

Harmless nonsense can lead to some pretty memorable moments.

*BOREDOM  has…

…led me to find some fun /interesting places online to spend some time.

RADIO GARDEN  Lets you listen to radio around the world.

New and archived storytelling  fromTHE MOTH RADIO HOUR podcast.

QUICK DRAWis a fun doodling site that is used to aid in research about machines that learn.

The next time you find yourself  on  the  lam, try the RANDOM  NAME  GENERATOR. 

Or HOGWARTS DIGITAL ESCAPE ROOM and all Harry Potter with it.

* I’ve  read some good articles, both informative and ridiculous.

Ways to channel virus fear into action

Help your kid deal with anxiety.

Baked Potato Song

Orangutan washing

Welsh goat bullies

Family lockdown, Les Miserables 

No $ for rent or mortgage?

Friends have been making puzzles

And sending more memes than I know what to do with (don’t stop!)

Download a free app and make your own bitmoji

Or create the next internet superstar… (picsart from google play)

*tap on any photo to enlarge

*So people  are  finding ways to pass time and to keep from feeling overwhelmed… got any suggestions to share? Leave it in the comments….no really…go ahead! It’s  fun and something to do!