5 Things Tuesday – Beating the Pandemic Blues

Last Tuesday we did a post on your five most common emotions during the pandemic. Going through all your responses, the balance was predominantly negative – sadness, anger, frustration, loneliness and many similar ones. Yet we have come through the last 14 to 18 months somehow.

This week I ask you to list the ways you kept those pandemic blues at bay. Here is my list:

MUSIC

Upbeat music helps me out of a “blue funk”. Listening to old favourites and finding other versions of them on YouTube has been a good mood elevator for me. I will share my favourites next Tuesday.

READING

Always a source of comfort, reading has been such a help during all the staying at home. Having done a huge amount of academic reading all my life, I choose fiction when I read for pleasure. The best way of forgetting negative feelings is to lose myself in the pages of a country house mystery or a fast paced thriller. Like many people, I have read a lot during Covid but haven’t noted down all the titles. I have also started reading some contemporary non fiction, e.g. Matt Haig’s “Notes from a Nervous Planet “.

MOVIES & SHOWS

Making use of the extended family time, I have watched lots of shows and movies with various family members. We saw new ones but had more fun rewatching old favourites e.g. I binge watched The Crown with my mother for the second time.

NET SURFING

The world wide Web has been a lifeline all through Covid. I have found very useful and interesting articles in The Guardian, Psychology Today and The New York Times. “Mindless” scrolling through Instagram, although a huge black hole of time, has been a lot of fun.

BLOGGING

I left the best for last – blogging is my favourite activity. It brings together reading and writing, two things that I love. My friends in the blogosphere have provided a lot of strength and support especially when I lost my father last year and when I got Covid in April this year. Most of my blogging used to be on the go, while commuting or in doctors’ waiting rooms as I accompanied my parents to their appointments. Due to staying at home my blogging , especially reading and commenting has suffered. But whenever I do get down to it , blogging is the best way to beat the blues.

Now I would love to read your list. You can leave a reply in my comments section. Better still, why not create a post of your own? Just remember to tag it #5things.

Featured image courtesy Google