Editor’s Note: This short report is part of the Cayuse Corona Community, a series of posts to share and communicate our challenges and successes during the 202o pandemic.
Read more Cayuse Corona Community posts here.
Read about Whoopie Pies and Wilderness
Read about Lemons, Oranges, and the Strange New Normal
Maddy Butcher writes:
My hometown in southwest Colorado has been largely spared the Covid19-related sickness and death that’s swept more populated areas of the world. In Montezuma County, home to 25,000 people over 2,000 square miles, we’ve had less than 20 cases. By comparison, New York City, covering just 300 square miles, has had nearly 200,000 cases and 20,000 deaths.
Ruralness has helped us weather the pandemic (which is not to say we don’t have other challenges, like poor internet access, healthcare access, constant isolation, and low wages).
But the pandemic is still a big source of stress for us country folks. It’s the kind of stress that harries without let-up.
Lately, I’ve been trying to get a better handle on how this is affecting my productivity, creativity, and horse time. I found some insight from an eclectic array of sources. Here they are. Please send me your favorite notes and anecdotes.
Alexis Rockley
on her Instagram posted:
Those “all over the place” feelings you’ve been having?
They are symptoms of stress, NOT personal failure of yours.
Do you feel FLAKEY + INCONSISTENT? That’s because your brain doesn’t know what news to brace for next, or what next month will hold.
TIRED EASILY? That’s because your brain is burning your energy 10x faster than usual.
CAN’T SEEM TO FOCUS? That’s because due to the stress response, your brain has temporarily shut down some functionality in your prefrontal cortex, the part that juggles complex tasks + planning.
Feeling CREATIVELY BLOCKED? That’s because your brain has temporarily diverted all its creativity (aka ability to solve novel problems) to “how do I avoid dying?” while in a narrowed, slow burn, fight-or-flight state.
SUDDENLY DON’T GIVE AF about future-based goals, projects, or dreams like you used to? That’s because your brain knows being short-sighted is a safer way to be right now.
Your plans, creativity, energy, focus + motivation are on a YO-YO right now because your brain believes you need to be EXTREMELY ADAPTIVE.
You will not be on this rollercoaster forever. Be patient with your brain.
Jurassic 5 raps in How We Get Along:
…We get along with eye contact.
We also get along by listening to one another.
Not only that, but we also get along because of rhythms
That we’ve learned during the course of the years.
But above all, there is harmony.
Because we got to listen to one another.
It’s all about feeling good; it’s a positive attitude
To make it work….
Captain Thomas Moore, the 100 year-old British World War II veteran, recited You’ll Never Walk Alone. A recording, with singer Michael Ball, zoomed to Number One on the British charts. Listen and watch here.
Oscar Hammerstein II wrote the lyrics:
Captain Thomas Moore
When you walk through a storm
Hold your head up high
And don’t be afraid of the dark
At the end of a storm
There’s a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark
Walk on through the wind
Walk on through the rain
Though your dreams be tossed and blown
Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you’ll never walk alone
You’ll never walk alone
Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you’ll never walk alone
You’ll never walk alone
Read more Cayuse Corona Community posts here.