After months of poetry, I thought I might just have a conversation with everyone today. 😉

It’s a vast understatement to say that we have been living in unprecendented times. The times are also stressful, uncertain, terrible for mental health, anger-inducing, and really baffling. Yes, I am one of those people who wonders at all the rage induced by mask-wearing.

Although our lives are not returning to what we liked to call “normal” – as if someone like me could ever be anything close to that, myself – our schedules here are beginning to return to the full demand of regular life.

For those of you who do not know, I have two jobs. I am an English teacher, and I also work on online curriculum for Learning Without Scars. When schools closed down in March, we implemented an emergency distance learning plan that had never been written before.

Our school year begins again this week, and our Covid-19 numbers are climbing. So, we are doing our distance learning with intention and planning and hours of preparation over the summer months.

During all of this, I find that the return to our routine is both challenging and comforting. I live by my daily to-do lists, but my 2020 planner was in a sad state for the majority of this year. Now that school is back, I find that each day is jam-packed with things to do and appointments to attend (although they are virtual).

There are days when it feels as though my sanity is closely tied into my routine: when I don’t plan it, write it, and cross things off the daily list, I feel as though I haven’t really accomplished much. I also feel as though I have not relaxed even a moment during the entire day. This chaotic approach spikes my anxiety, and it becomes like a life on a hamster wheen for me.

With all of this wall of text, I want to ask: how are you managing through this pandemic? How have you made time to care for yourself while the world has been turned upside down? Please let me know in the comments.

As always, I write this in hopes that you are all well and safe, and that you are finding moments of joy despite the mayhem.

Blessings to you all.