I don’t know about you, but I’m tired.\u00a0 Soul tired.<\/p>\n
Even though we just had a long Thanksgiving weekend.\u00a0 With camping, and turkey and stuffing and pie, pie and more pie.<\/p>\n
Even though I just celebrated another birthday.\u00a0 With cake, and messages sent from friends and family all over.<\/p>\n
Even if I’m still working and healthy.\u00a0 I feel tired.<\/p>\n
I think it’s because I thought – maybe<\/em> – by now, we would be in the clear.\u00a0 This pandemic would be over.\u00a0 We’d be back to normal.<\/p>\n But numbers are rising all around us.\u00a0 More shut downs and restrictions in communities around us.\u00a0 Communities where we have loved ones that we miss.<\/p>\n It feels like we’re going backwards.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n People are frustrated and sad and angry.\u00a0 I read comments online and I feel the frustration.\u00a0 \u00a0People are snapping at each other, arguing with each other, blaming and shaming.<\/p>\n It’s been a long road. Seven long months.<\/p>\n We thought it would be over.<\/p>\n But we’re tired.\u00a0 Emotionally.\u00a0 Mentally. Physically.\u00a0 Tired of all of it.<\/p>\n I remember in March making plans for a group BBQ in the summer to celebrate the “end” of it.\u00a0 We never got the BBQ.\u00a0 We’re still waiting for the celebration.<\/p>\n It weighs heavy on all of us.\u00a0 Some more than others.\u00a0 \u00a0It certainly doesn’t help with the fall weather moving in.\u00a0 Cloudy skies replacing the sunshine.<\/p>\n I think most of us are doing ok.\u00a0 Compared to others.<\/p>\n Some people have lost loved ones to this virus.\u00a0 Some people have had it and felt the impact.\u00a0 Some people have lost jobs or had wages or hours reduced.\u00a0 Some will lose their business. Their hopes and dreams.<\/p>\n The hurt his pandemic has caused is very real.\u00a0 The mental exhaustion.\u00a0 The emotional toll it’s taken is big.<\/p>\n We know this has taken a toll on many.\u00a0 Our mental and emotional and physical health.<\/p>\n It was nice to be camping this weekend.\u00a0 To be in the great outdoors.\u00a0 Surrounded by the beautiful fall colours.\u00a0 The quiet.<\/p>\n But around the campground the reminders –\u00a0 there was masks, and signs of caution in the shared bathrooms.\u00a0 A reminder to keep social distancing and washing your hands.<\/p>\n I try to remind myself on these hard days that there is still a reason to be thankful and a reason to smile.\u00a0 But some days it’s harder than others.\u00a0 When the weight is heavier.<\/p>\n What do you do to get through the dark days?\u00a0 I can tell you I’ve already eaten half a box of mint Girl Guide cookies.\u00a0 I’ve scrolled way too much online and stared out the window longer than I should when I should be working.<\/p>\n I worry about schools shutting down.\u00a0 My kids feeling isolated from their friends.\u00a0 And it’s going to be weeks if not months before I get to see my dad again, as he recovers from surgery. Another covid rule.\u00a0 \u00a0As nurses visit his home, he has to isolate\/ quarantine. Nobody is allowed in except for the health care team.\u00a0 Sigh.<\/p>\n I’m going to need more cookies to get through this day.\u00a0 (smile)<\/p>\n I love to see the Halloween decorations up across the city, but I wonder how it’s going to look.\u00a0 Will kids be trick or treating the same way?<\/p>\n I wonder how many people are afraid to share news of visiting a friend for fear of judgement.<\/p>\n I wonder how many people are afraid to cough or sneeze for fear of the reaction around them.<\/p>\n I know what we are going through is hard.\u00a0 And restrictions and rules are challenging, when all we want is to go back to how it was.<\/p>\n My wish is that we never stop being kind to each other.\u00a0 Smiling at a stranger or one of the essential workers.<\/p>\n The cashiers who never stopped working behind the counter.\u00a0 Smiling through the plexiglass and face shields.\u00a0 Taking the brunt of it from some not so kind customers.<\/p>\n My wish is that we remember this is temporary – even if it FEELS like forever.<\/p>\n Some days I feel like it’s going to be okay.\u00a0 Other days, like today,\u00a0 I get anxious and afraid all over again.<\/p>\n Some days I’m okay being out in the world, picking up a box of cookies to feed my emotions (smile).\u00a0\u00a0Other days I am afraid to step outside.\u00a0 Maybe not afraid, but reluctant.<\/p>\n We have never been through anything like this in our lifetime.<\/p>\n It’s uncharted territory.<\/p>\n I trust that the experts are doing their best to keep us all safe and to get us through this.\u00a0 It doesn’t mean I always like it.\u00a0 It does mean I will take precautions to help so we can get back to normal faster.<\/p>\n Fighting it doesn’t make it go away any faster.<\/p>\n We’re seven months in.\u00a0 No finish line in sight.\u00a0 \u00a0But we got this Sarnia.<\/p>\n Keep looking out for each other.<\/p>\n Keep smiling at strangers.<\/p>\n Keep being the good and doing the good.<\/p>\n We ARE in this together.\u00a0 We can GET THROUGH this together and will be stronger for it.<\/p>\n And if nobody stops me from eating these cookies – I’ll be 10 pounds heavier.\u00a0 Please someone tell me to put the cookies down.\u00a0 I beg you.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I don’t know about you, but I’m tired.\u00a0 Soul tired. Even though we just had a long Thanksgiving weekend.\u00a0 With camping, and turkey and stuffing and pie, pie and more pie. Even though I just celebrated another birthday.\u00a0 With cake, and messages sent from friends and family all over. Even if I’m still working and","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":11509,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"featured_img_display":"Yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[3673,4196,4580,1116],"class_list":["post-11502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-afternoons","tag-cookies","tag-covid","tag-girl-guides","tag-mental-health"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-26 22:02:54","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"react_link":"https:\/\/foxfm.com\/blogs\/afternoons\/2020\/10\/the-view-from-here-can-we-be-done-with-this\/","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11502"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11511,"href":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11502\/revisions\/11511"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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