Tag Archives: isolation

Continuing My Home Workouts (or I Really Am Grateful For Orangetheory)

Posted on April 27, 2020 | Comments Off on Continuing My Home Workouts (or I Really Am Grateful For Orangetheory)

I’ve gotten used to my routine of working out at home. I’m still not loving it, but I’m glad that the transition from working out in the studio to working out at home was as easy as it was. As soon as the studios are open again (and it’s safe to go), I will be there immediately. There is something about working out in person that I cannot replicate working out at home. But I don’t think that will be happening for at least another month, if not longer, so I just have to stick it out with the home workouts.

There have been some people who haven’t been enjoying the home workouts as much as I have. And I do understand some of the frustration. It’s not easy to find the motivation to do the workouts at home. We are limited in what we get in our workouts because they are trying to make it work for everyone, no matter what equipment you might have. And it isn’t just the same.

But at the same time, I am so appreciative of what Orangetheory has done. I doubt any fitness studio had a plan in place for a situation like we are in now. Nobody expected a worldwide pandemic that would shut down all the studios for an indefinite length of time. I wonder if they will have a plan for that now that it’s happened. But compared to so many other workout studios, Orangetheory has been on top of their game. My studios were some of the first ones to shut down for the entire country. Within a few days of my studios closing, the Orangetheory at Home workouts started to be posted every day on YouTube. And they are unique workouts for every day. Yes, there are things that repeat from time to time, but it’s always a different combination.

And not only are they posting home workouts for us, but they are also using household items in the workouts in case someone doesn’t have weights. I’ve been lucky with being able to get some weights, but there are still things I don’t have. But the examples I get when watching the workouts have helped me to figure out what I can use in my house (I’m still trying to find a good substitution for the bench when I do plank work and am open to suggestions).

Since they have been doing the home workouts online for over a month, they have also modified them based on feedback from members. When they first put them up, there wasn’t any music during the workout blocks. That was quickly fixed. Then they added a clock for each block so you knew how much time was left. And just this past week, they added an audio clue to switch exercises if they were times (for example, doing 1 minute of squats). All of these things have been added to make our workouts better and I seriously appreciate it.

Considering how quickly they had to pull this together and how little time they had to get ready, it’s incredible what they have been able to do. And adding the workouts a few times a week where they have featured coaches from around the world has made it even better. They add variety to the workouts and it’s always fun to see if there is a coach I recognize in that segment.

So even though I would do Hell Week a million times over if that meant I could get back into the studio, I still am so grateful and glad I have the home workouts to do right now. They are helping me keep a routine, feel sane, and just not feel as lost as I do sometimes. And it is special to think that everyone around the world who does Orangetheory is doing the same home workout as I am. And we all are staying home so that we can get back into the studios as soon as possible.

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Default ThumbnailI Guess I’ll Be Working Out At Home A Bit Longer (or Working Out Hard Is Always A Good Thing) Default ThumbnailMaking Home Workouts Feel A Bit More Like Studio Ones (or I Do Still Wish I Was In-Studio) Default ThumbnailAnother Week Of Home Workouts (or Still Trying My Best) Default ThumbnailSome Of My Best And Worst Workouts (or A New Type Of Home Workouts) Default ThumbnailAnother Mixed Motivation Week (or I Might Be Almost Done With At-Home Workouts) Default ThumbnailFinally A Good Workout Week (or Continuing To Build My Home Gym)

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Hitting Some Writer’s Block (or This Is What I Thought Would Happen)

Posted on April 24, 2020 | Comments Off on Hitting Some Writer’s Block (or This Is What I Thought Would Happen)

When the pandemic started, one of the first blog posts I wrote was about how I wasn’t sure how I would be able to keep up my blog. So much of what I write about is because I’m out doing things. But now, I’m just home. For the next week or so, I’m not even going outside for walks since I’m doing another strict voluntary quarantine after seeing my family. My biggest adventure outside is to take my trash to the curb or to walk across my driveway to do laundry. I’m glad I don’t care too much about my step count right now because they are pathetically low.

I have a little bit of a routine at least still going on. I’m only working 3 days a week for an hour, but that’s something regular. I have my workouts, even if I’m a bit flexible on what time I’m doing them. I’m still doing them in the morning, but sometimes it’s around 8 am and sometimes it’s around 10 am. But it’s a planned thing. And I have a few different groups that I do Netflix Parties with or watching other videos online together. They are usually held at the same time each week, and it’s so nice to have something like that to look forward to each week.

And I have this blog. I am still keeping up with my writing schedule. Sometimes, in the past, I would write a few blog posts at once. I would get all the posts for the week written before the week started. That usually can only happen when I know exactly what posts are going to be going out that week. There are times that my editorial calendar has been planned out for 2 weeks in advance. Those times were awesome, but that’s not at all what I have now. I do have my Monday posts planned since those are still my workout recaps. But there really isn’t much else figured out.

When I wrote that I wasn’t sure how I’d be able to keep up this blog, I was coming up with ideas on how to make a new schedule. But now that we are over a month into this, I don’t think I want to do that. I want to keep my normal blogging schedule going. I need any sense of normalcy that I can get and writing on here is one of those things. But some of the posts might end up being really short or really boring. I might not have much to write about. But I need to do it. Even if nobody reads the posts, I need it for me.

At least this writer’s block gave me something to write about today.

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Trying To Maintain My Strength (or Noticing I Need To Work Harder)

Posted on April 20, 2020 | Comments Off on Trying To Maintain My Strength (or Noticing I Need To Work Harder)

Despite all of my efforts with doing my Orangetheory at Home workouts, they are not as good as going to a regular class. I’ve heard some people say how now they realize they can do their workouts at home, they wonder if they will go back to the studio. I am the complete opposite. Now that I’m working out at home, I realize that this is not the same as being in the studio and I am craving being able to go back. I know that this closure is necessary for everyone, but I can’t help but miss my workouts in the studio and having my coaches push me.

I’m pushing myself as much as I can, but there are several things I can’t do or can’t do as hard at home. I’m limited to what I have in my house or what I can find online to get. I’ve written about how I have tried to build my home gym the best that I can. But I am restricted by what is available to buy, what I have room for, and what I have money for. If I didn’t have those restrictions, I probably would have an incredible home gym. But I don’t want to have things in my house that I don’t know if I’d use them once I’m back at Orangetheory. I have debated about getting a rower for my house and have started to look more seriously at them. My dad has been helping me look at them online and I think I know what I would get, but I don’t know if I want to get it right now.

And even though I have been limited in the weights I have in my house, I was thinking I was doing ok with things. I wanted to get some better weights for my house that were closer to the weights I usually use. Almost everything I was able to get was lighter than what I’m used to for many things. And I figured I would be fine with that because I do believe that doing something is better than doing nothing.

But at the end of this past week, I was able to get one set of weights that I was looking for. I’ll go into the details about how I got these from my parents in a post later this week, but my dad had an extra set of weight plates that he didn’t need. They are 10 pounds, which is on the lighter side of what I use but heavier than the water bottles I have been using as hand weights. And I was able to use them for the first time when I did my home workout on Saturday.

And holy moly I noticed a huge difference! Before, 10 pounds would have felt like nothing to me when doing the exercises I was doing. But this time, I needed breaks and my body was hurting. I couldn’t believe how much harder it was to use the 10 pounds weights when I was thinking they still might be too easy. It’s been over a month since I’ve lifted heavier weights, and I knew that I would lose some strength and muscle. I guess I just was surprised how quickly it happened and how weak I felt. I didn’t get upset by this because I was expecting at least a little. But it did make me realize that I need to have some realistic expectations for when I do get back into my workout classes.

I’ve been tracking my workouts for a while now, and when I get back I will continue to track them. But I will need to look at it as a fresh start and not as a comparison to where I was. Maybe I’ll eventually do some comparisons to see if I’m back to where I was, but I’m not going to use it as something negative. I will have setbacks with cardio, rowing, and weight lifting when I get back. It would be crazy for me to think that I wouldn’t. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t improve upon wherever I am when I do get back. I want to have the same motivation that I always have had. I want to see my workouts as a challenge and opportunity to go harder/faster/heavier.

While the setbacks could be considered negative, my reaction to them is obviously positive. If still motivated no matter what. I am still doing 4 workouts a week. I am not using this time as an excuse. Before Orangetheory, I doubt I would have found a way to work out at home if I couldn’t go to a class. I certainly wouldn’t be doing it this much or this hard. And I probably would have used not being able to find weights and equipment as a sign that I shouldn’t be trying. But I’m not letting anything stop me. I might not be as strong as I was before, but I’m going to get back there one day and I’m going to keep working to make this setback as minimal as possible.

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Sometimes You Just Need To Cry (or It’s Ok To Not Be Ok)

Posted on April 17, 2020 | Comments Off on Sometimes You Just Need To Cry (or It’s Ok To Not Be Ok)

With everything going on in the world right now, I am proud of myself of how I have been handling things. I know that I could be doing much better, but I also know that I could be doing much worse. Since this is a new and unique situation, there is no way we can expect to be doing. Some people react to this type of stress in better ways than others. And I think that I have done lots of positive things with my stress. But I can’t be doing great all the time and I have had some really big breakdowns in the past few weeks.

I think that holding it together might be causing these breakdowns to be a bit worse than they should because I’m trying to not be upset all the time. I can usually get over some negative feelings easy and it doesn’t affect me too much. But I think that’s because those negative feelings or bad days aren’t too often. Now, I think that I have moments of negativity every day. It’s not all day every day, but every day I do have a moment that could make me spiral. And it builds up over days or weeks and leads to a breakdown.

I do think these breakdowns can be good because I need to get those feelings (and tears) out. And there are some real worries and frustrations behind those breakdowns. The first time I had one was because I was frustrated that so many of my friends couldn’t relate to how lonely I was feeling. Most of them have a significant other, kid, pet, or roommate with them. So even if they were limited who they could see, they had someone else. I don’t have anyone here and it’s very difficult to not have any in-person human interaction. I feel like I’m alone on my own planet and nobody else is here with me. I know that’s not the case and everyone else is going through this too, but it’s hard when there is nobody else here and the loneliness is much harder than I ever imagined it to be.

And the other breakdown was after I did my errands the other day. I didn’t do all the errands I would have liked to have done, but I limited myself to things that I had to do and couldn’t wait on. Even though I wasn’t doing all my errands, it was the most I had done outside my house in a month and I was so excited to do anything that wasn’t in my house. But then after I got home, I got a bit upset over how I was overjoyed to get to do the most basic things in life and how it was sad that that’s all I had to really look forward to right now. I have no clue when I can do other things that make me happy, but I know essential errands will be something I can do again in the near future. My friend tried to help me reframe my thinking and look at it as a chance to really appreciate all the simple things in life. But I kept going toward thinking how sad it was that all I had to enjoy was going to pick up medication. I’m so grateful that I was on the phone with a friend while having that breakdown because she was so patient with me and trying to help me focus my thoughts on better things. And when I got off the phone I really felt so much better.

I’m sure I’ll have more breakdowns and down moments in the future about this. Isolation and quarantine are weird situations. A friend of mine explained it so well. They said that this is so disorienting because we are experiencing a normal life and not normal life at the same time. I am still in my house. I still have a lot of my usual routine and day to day stuff. But at the same time, everything is different. It’s hard to experience both at the same time and there is no way that we could have prepared for this. All we can do is do our best. And sometimes, our best is allowing ourselves to fall apart a bit because this is scary and overwhelming. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

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Some Of The New Normal (or I’ll Need To Get Used To This)

Posted on April 15, 2020 | Comments Off on Some Of The New Normal (or I’ll Need To Get Used To This)

I haven’t been leaving my house to do things lately, so the new guidelines and rules for what we need to do haven’t affected me yet. For a while, people weren’t wearing masks. Then they started to wear them. Now, you are required to wear them in LA. If you go to a business not wearing a mask, they have the right to refuse service and make you leave.

These masks we are supposed to use are not the medical ones. We are supposed to use different fabric masks. I ordered one online, but I haven’t gotten it yet (a friend of mine also made me one, but that hasn’t arrived yet). But I did look at instructions online on how to make one using fabric and some hair ties, so I made one earlier this week to try it out. I had to modify a few things to make it work for me (just using hair ties around my ears didn’t work because of how my ears are shaped), but I figured out how to do it. It’s not perfect, but it does the job and fits the requirement for what we need to have.

And I hadn’t had a chance to use it until yesterday when I had to go to Kaiser to pick up a prescription. I wish I could have had my medication mailed to me, but because of it being a controlled substance, I have to get it in person and show my ID and sign a form to get it. And I waited as long as I could to get my refill, but I was down to 2 days of medication left. I would have preferred to wait until things were a bit more normal, but that wasn’t an option. So I got my mask together and drove over to the hospital when I was done with work.

I’ve never had to wear a mask for any reason before, except when I was skiing and it was a part of my hat. This was a bit weird to wear and made me feel a little claustrophobic. I also think I folded the fabric over too many times because it was very thick and not as easy to breathe through. But I was fine and just had to deal with the weirdness. I’m glad I didn’t need to wear it while driving because breathing made my sunglasses fog up.

When I went to get my medication, I did have to be checked for fever before I was allowed inside, so I know they are being careful. And I used hand sanitizer after any interaction. So it wasn’t too bad considering everything going on. But it did give me an idea of what things will be like as I use a face mask for other things in the future.

I hope the masks I am getting will be a bit better than my homemade one. I still expect that it will fog up sunglasses, but that’s not a big issue. And I will get more used to wearing one the more often I have to do it. I don’t think this will be a forever thing, but it will be something that I have a feeling we will be doing for quite a while.

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Still Having Some Cooking Fails (or Trying But Not Being Perfect)

Posted on April 14, 2020 | Comments Off on Still Having Some Cooking Fails (or Trying But Not Being Perfect)

As I wrote in another post, I’ve been cooking a lot more lately. This is a necessity and it’s also a way for me to pass some time each day (because each day does feel like it takes forever). There are still some things about cooking that are difficult for me, plus there are a few additional challenges.

A friend of mine asked me why I don’t like to cook, and I mentioned that I don’t mind cooking, I just don’t really like to cook for just me. Of course, that got me thinking about why that is and maybe I don’t feel like I’m worth cooking for (but that’s a big rabbit hole I could go down). But I think it’s just that I haven’t had the time or motivation to cook, and my kitchen might not be the best setup for cooking.

Well, I definitely have the time now. The kitchen setup is something that I’m working on. Motivation will probably always be a struggle. But the new struggle is also not being able to plan what I might want to cook because I also don’t know what I will be able to get for groceries. This is making me a little stressed out with cooking because I don’t have recipes that I feel comfortable enough with making huge substitutions. But I’m trying my best and also making a lot of things that are pretty basic and simple.

But just because I’m making easy things doesn’t mean I won’t screw them up. I’ve had a few really great cooking wins with making some awesome stuff, but I’ve also had some epic failures. Like ruining an entire recipe because it got to an unsafe temperature but not hot enough to actually cook (and I didn’t notice it for long enough that I didn’t think it could be saved). Throwing out food is not easy, especially when it’s the meal I planned to eat that night for dinner. But in that case, I didn’t think risking food poisoning was worth it.

In the past, that failure might have made me not want to cook for a while, but I don’t really have that luxury right now. I do need to cook almost every day. And while a lot of days are just making something simple like eggs, that still is cooking every day. Sometimes I do have a day where it’s just leftovers or things that don’t require cooking, but those days are rare. Being forced to cook like I am now is probably a good thing, but I’m looking forward to when I can cook without the stress of everything else going on.

I am far from a perfect cook. I know I will screw up so many more recipes in the future. Hopefully, those screwups won’t be complete failures where I have to throw out the food, but that might happen too. I can only try my best and try to make this time of forced cooking the most productive I can and hope that I will come out of this time of isolation with a new habit and a stronger skill set in the kitchen.

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Another Thing I’m Learning In Isolation (or Eating Disorder Issues)

Posted on April 10, 2020 | Comments Off on Another Thing I’m Learning In Isolation (or Eating Disorder Issues)

There are so many things that I’m learning about myself and about the world right now. Yes, there are so many sad stories happening and I have friends who have lost loved ones. But I also have never heard of so many stories about how people are helping each other and coming together. I have learned that I’m much more of an extrovert than I thought (I thought I was an introvert until this). We haven’t been doing this for that long and I expect us to have to do this for a while, so I’m sure there will be so many other things I will learn about myself and about others.

But I have also come across issues that I never thought about before that are only happening because of being in isolation. And the biggest ones for me have been with my struggle to recover from my eating disorder. First, my workouts have been so good for me with feeling better about myself. But now, I’m not able to do my workouts the way that I have gotten used to. I’m not able to work out as hard and I’m missing a lot of cardio (I’m working on fixing that, but it’s not easy). Having something that felt like it was helping removed from my life has been hard. I don’t know if I was struggling this way before joining Orangetheory because I didn’t know what I was missing. I don’t know how to get the same feeling I get in class when I don’t have others around me supporting me and pushing me. But it’s something that I have accepted would be difficult to deal with so I’m working on it.

But the biggest challenge or struggle with my eating disorder has been about food (which is usually my issue). I am not used to having this much food in my house. I don’t like it because it makes me uncomfortable. But I know I have to do things this way because I need to limit how often I go to the store. And I’m not keeping foods in my house that I usually keep because I have to find more shelf-stable things or some of the things that I like to have aren’t available or easy to find right now. If I’m craving something, I can’t always find it. And I can’t have a binge of the foods I have in my house because I need that to eat for the rest of the week.

I’m also almost feeling food insecure because of those issues. I know that I’m not actually dealing with food insecurity and that’s a real and serious issue, but that’s the best way I can describe it. I know I have food and I would be fine if I couldn’t get more for a week or two. I wouldn’t be eating anything fabulous, but I have things like pancake mix and ramen that I could have. But I don’t have things that are as familiar to me and I don’t know when I’ll be able to get those again. Going to the grocery store has been stressful, but I have been able to avoid it for the past few weeks. I’ve had both grocery delivery and a friend help me, so it’s been easier now that I haven’t had to deal with going to the store myself. I’m not feeling anxiety by the lines or by being frustrated that I can’t get the things on my list. But I’m also feeling a bit out of control when I don’t see immediately what will be something that can be purchased. It’s a weird situation where I don’t know if I can win.

I’ve seen several articles and heard some podcasts that discuss these issues and say how this is a difficult time for anyone who has had or currently has an eating disorder. Even people in recovery are finding this a challenge and knowing that has made me feel a bit better about my struggles. I’m not alone by any means in this and that is reassuring. There haven’t been a lot of suggestions on how to work through this yet because this isn’t something that people have experience with. The main thing I have heard over and over again is that people need to be gentle with themselves and know that there may be setbacks right now. And that is ok because we are dealing with something that nobody has ever been through before. If right now my recovery takes a bit of a pause, that doesn’t mean I have ruined everything that I have worked for. I can get back to what I was doing before. And maybe I will start to pick up some skills that I can use to help me soon. I don’t know yet, but I am trying to stay optimistic.

I’m sure there will be other things that come up in the coming weeks and months that will be challenges and struggles that I wasn’t expecting. Even when things start getting better, I know that they won’t be just like they were before. We all will need to ease back into normal so we can feel comfortable with not being isolated anymore. But just because things won’t go back to the way they were before immediately doesn’t mean that they will be worse. I hope that I can find a way to make things better for me in the future. And if I can’t, I will just have to keep reminding myself that this time is temporary and any issues I have with my recovery are temporary as well.

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Appreciating The Little Things (or I’m Lucky To Have Awesome Friends)

Posted on April 9, 2020 | Comments Off on Appreciating The Little Things (or I’m Lucky To Have Awesome Friends)

I want to believe that I typically appreciate the things I have in my life. I know there are some things that I take for granted, but I also am aware of how lucky I am in my life. I don’t think I have a lot of things in my life that would make others jealous, but I do have things that I know others would like and I am very grateful for those. And right now, it’s easy to forget how lucky I am sometimes because it feels like there is so much against me right now.

I have to remind myself that I’m not the only person going through isolation and that almost everyone is dealing with the same things that I am. But it’s hard to remember that when I am alone at my place and I don’t really see others struggling the same way that I am. I have been working on being more open about my struggles because maybe I am not seeing others struggle because they don’t want to share that. So by me being open, I can hopefully make someone else feel alone.

And I am lucky that I have friends who I can be open with and can turn to for help when I need it. I’m not good about asking for help, but I know right now that it’s something I need to get better at doing.

For example, I haven’t been to the grocery store in several weeks since I have been sick. I have been getting grocery delivery, but there are a few things that I either can’t get through grocery delivery or don’t want to get. For example, I needed some dried pasta and it’s not easy to tell grocery delivery that I would prefer this type of pasta but any would be fine. I could be ok with what I was able to get through delivery, but I also wanted to get a few more ingredients so I could make some more tasty and unique recipes.

So I texted my friend Liz who lives a few blocks from my house (and down the street from the grocery store) and asked her if she would mind helping me out. I told her that I wasn’t in desperate need of supplies, but if I could give her a list the next time she went to the store that it would be amazing. And she agreed right away. It wasn’t easy to ask for help, but having her agree to help with no hesitation helped me feel better about it.

She was able to get to the store earlier this week and I gave her my list. I had some things that I felt pretty certain she could find and a few that were harder. And I told her that I knew that she probably couldn’t find everything so it wasn’t a big deal if she could only get some things. And she was able to get everything for me except the 2 that I thought might be impossible to find!

Even though she lives only a few blocks from my house, I drove to her place to pick up the groceries. I had some extra alcohol that I didn’t need taking up room in my place so I brought that for her as a thank you for getting me supplies (I also paid her back for all the groceries, the alcohol was a bonus). I put that in the trunk and figured that if she put the groceries in the trunk that would keep us about 6 feet apart so that should be safe.

The grocery exchange went well and I’m going to remember using my trunk that way for any future help that I might need or if I can help others get supplies. And Liz hung out for a few minutes next to my car (but still a good distance away) and we had a quick catchup chat. It was the most in-person conversation I’ve had with a friend in weeks. Even though I’ve had phone calls and video chats, there is something so different compared to an in-person talk. I really needed to have those few minutes of feeling like I’m in the same space as another person. There really aren’t ways to do that too often right now. Hopefully, there will be some public spaces that I can have some physical distances with friends open soon. Like a park where we can all sit 6 feet apart and just hang out. I am craving those moments right now and it has made me realize how lucky I am that I typically do have those.

It was so nice to feel support from a friend in real life and not just online. I need to be reminded that I do have friends that would do that for me if it was possible. Right now, it’s just not possible unless it’s for a specific purpose. I can’t ask for help for things that are not essential (both for my health and my friends’ health). But this time is temporary and soon things will be able to be a bit more normal. And I will hopefully be able to repay the favor to friends who did help me with so many things, both in-person and virtually.

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Default ThumbnailFinding Time For Friends (or Busting Out Of My Routine) Default ThumbnailRemembering To See My Friends (or Actually Scheduling Hangouts) Default ThumbnailIt Can Be Tough To Get Help (or Trying To Be A Good Friend To My Friends) Default Thumbnail4th Of July On The 1st (or Another Awesome Party With Friends) Default ThumbnailNew Year More Brunches (or Awesome Company, Not So Awesome Restaurant Service) Default ThumbnailFriends Helping Friends (or Not Being Afraid To Ask For Support)

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Escaping My House For A Bit (or Enjoying Some Time In My Car)

Posted on April 7, 2020 | Comments Off on Escaping My House For A Bit (or Enjoying Some Time In My Car)

Between the regular isolation we are supposed to be doing and avoiding going to the grocery store on my own since I’m sick, I’m not seeing anything other than the inside of my house much. I did walk my trash can to the curb and bring it back, but that’s about it. I’m not going for walks in my neighborhood because I don’t have a mask right now and I know that I’m a higher risk of getting sick. I am doing this for my own protection, but it’s not easy.

I’m not used to only being inside my house. And this past weekend I was going a bit antsy and stir crazy. I needed to get out of my house but I didn’t know what to do. I wasn’t going to go to get supplies and there aren’t many other places to go. But I needed to not be home and I realized that I probably also needed to drive my car. I hadn’t driven it in a few weeks and I didn’t want the battery to die. So I decided on Sunday that I was going to go out for a drive.

I didn’t have a place in mind to drive to when I got into my car, but I decided to head toward the beach and see where I decided to go. I knew the beaches were closed and that the parking lots were likely closed too, but I figured if I couldn’t find a place to go I would just drive around for a bit and then drive home. No matter what, it would be something different than being home.

And when I got to the beach, I started to drive up PCH and thought I wouldn’t find anywhere that I could park unless I went much further north where I could park on the side of the road, and I didn’t feel like driving that much. So I drove toward Malibu and then found a place to turn around and head back. But on the drive back, right before turning away from the beach I saw a side street and decided to take a chance on finding some random street parking. After driving up and down a few streets, I found a parking meter and pulled over. And it was a parking spot with an amazing view!

There were a few people on the beach path, but there weren’t many people out (which is a good thing). I don’t know if I’ve ever seen the beach this empty before. Even on a rainy day, I would see people out there. It was so eerie seeing it like that, but it was also a bit nice because I had a really pretty view of the sand and water. I sat in my car for a while just looking out at the water and feeling lucky that I had the option to drive there and have a good view. And then I headed back home.

Even when I can start going to the grocery store again, I might have to do these random car adventures from time to time. It really helped me feel better just getting out and going somewhere different. I needed something to get me out of the feeling of every day being a repeat of the day before. I wish I could have done more, but for now, just driving somewhere might be my only option. But at least I have an option to do something and I need to make sure I plan to do more things like this to keep myself sane.

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Default ThumbnailRandom Driving Around LA (or Anything Is Entertainment) Default ThumbnailDriving Around For No Reason (or Finding Places That Make Me Happy) Default ThumbnailLA Adventure (or How To Enjoy A Day Without Your Own Car) Default ThumbnailUnexpected Car Shopping (or New Year New Car) Default ThumbnailEnjoying More Food and Wine Festival (or Enjoying A Hot Day At Disneyland) Default ThumbnailThe Roadrunner (or More Memories In My House)

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Dating In Isolation (or Another Thing I’m Trying To Keep Normal)

Posted on April 3, 2020 | Comments Off on Dating In Isolation (or Another Thing I’m Trying To Keep Normal)

Everyone right now is learning how to do things in a new way. There are so many people who have never worked from home that are trying to figure out how to manage things (and they are learning that it’s not as easy as it might have seemed). We are trying to figure out better and safer ways to get the supplies that we need in our daily lives and reevaluating what is necessary and what is not. And we are working on figuring out a new normal and seeing what we can continue doing.

And yes, figuring out our new normal includes some frivolous things. Not everything right now is serious and it’s ok to focus on something that isn’t as important as others. For example, I have a few friends that have had to cancel their weddings because of everything. It’s ok to be upset that it’s canceled even though they know it’s for the best. Or for kids to be upset that they can’t see their friends. I’m figuring out some things that I know are not that important and being upset that I’m not able to do things the way that I’m used to. Everyone is working through this right now and we each have different ways of dealing with it.

In one of the dating related Facebook groups that I’m in, the discussion about dating right now has been a very active topic. There are the obvious things like how we all know that we cannot go out and go on a date with someone. Some people have discussed temporarily moving in with someone that they weren’t super serious about yet so they would still be able to see each other during isolation. Honestly, if I was seeing someone regularly right now, I’d probably be doing that too. Isolation seems to be the make it or break it point for a lot of people. Either they are trying to find a way to be together right now or they realize that they don’t care enough about the other person so they end things.

And then there are lots of people who aren’t seeing anyone regularly or seriously and are debating if they should just temporarily give up on dating right now. There is a lot of reason why this makes sense. In my dating profile, I have a statement that I’m looking for something real and not just a pen pal. I hate messaging back and forth on the apps. I would prefer to meet someone right away because I have had amazing chemistry with someone over text and no chemistry in person. But now, messaging is really all we can do.

But at the same time, I’ve been looking at this as a moment to change up my dating strategy. Maybe not getting to know someone without being in person could be a good thing. It’s not like I have another option. I have to find ways to connect with someone without being together if I want to keep trying. And at the same time, I still want to protect some of my personal details like I always have. For example, I don’t feel comfortable giving out my phone number until I’ve met someone because I like to know they are real and not a scammer.

Some apps are making things a bit easier than others. For example, on Bumble they have a built-in phone and video chat feature. So you can talk to someone on the phone or have a video call without having to give out your number. That’s a nice thing and I wish other apps would have that feature (at least for right now). And I have been using those features with guys that I have matched with in the past week. It’s still not as good as getting to meet someone in person, but it is an improvement over texting.

I have no clue if I will actually connect with someone right now. Or if I do connect with someone that it will last until whenever we would be able to meet up in person. In normal times, I’m not on dating apps just to talk to people. I am on there for the purpose of trying to find someone. But now, I’m relaxing on that idea a bit. I still would love to find my person, but I also am craving any human interaction and dating apps do help to provide that. I’m not just swiping right on everyone to match with anyone and everyone. I still have my standards with who I would want to spend time. But it’s feeling a bit looser and I’m open to talking to people I might have rejected before. Maybe this could help me find someone better than who I have been meeting or maybe not. I have no idea. All I know is that this is one part of my life that I’m not giving up on just because things are changing in the world.

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Default ThumbnailStill Figuring Out Dating During COVID (or Phone Calls, Video Chats, And Social Distances Meetups) Default ThumbnailAnother Dating App Ban (or This Is What Makes Me Over Things) Default ThumbnailDating Life Update (or I Guess I’m Lucky I’m Still Seeing Humor In This) Default ThumbnailStill Trying To Get Back To Normal (or Isolation Monthly Challenges Really Are Not Easy) Default ThumbnailStill Trying To Figure Out Pandemic Dating (or Sometimes You Can’t Plan For Things) Default ThumbnailDating And Disneyland (or Not My Post-It Day)

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