What have you lost while staying inside?

[petra]

A commiseration post for today. Feel free to skip it if you're not in the mood for negativity.

Having to stay inside means we're all losing things we once had, or could have had. What have you lost to the forces that make you stay inside? How do you deal with the grief surrounding those losses?

Comments

Since I was a stay-at-home Before

[jesse_the_k]

...the most piercing loss has been my swimming thrice a week at a local pool. The pool is part of a rehab center -- average swimmer age 64 -- so many high-risk folks. It closed on the 16th.

In addition to missing the magic of weightless, almost painless, movement I realize that the undressing/dressing chatter was a pleasant level of interaction I didn't realize was important.

Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone?

Oh, the library. My local branch was an easy 10-minute trip, and nothing is so peaceful as being surrounded by books.

Re: Since I was a stay-at-home Before

[petra]

I'm sorry you lost your pool. That sounds like quite the blow. And then losing the socialization on top of it, too.

I don't even go to the library unless I need to -- but I often need to for emotional support reasons, and being unable to be there hurts, so I sympathize with that hard.

Re: Since I was a stay-at-home Before

[jesse_the_k]

<3

The good news is I realized it was about to happen, and mindfully experienced every possible drop of my last swim.

Libraries are very safe spaces for me because anything is possible. I might get the energy to finally read any of thousands of books! I could discover the origins of albalone! I could meet a newcomer and intro them to our city. I could cook up an obscure question and reference would demonstrate how they answer it. Or I could lounge by the magazines and gobbble up People and We.

Re: Since I was a stay-at-home Before

[petra]

Taking a mindful swim sounds extremely therapeutic. I'm glad you got fair warning and were able to do that.

You have summed up how I feel about libraries very well. They're just chock full of things that might happen and stuff I might learn. When I get in the library-going zone, I have a terrible time limiting myself to only the books I'm sure I'm going to read. That seems like a betrayal of all the books I might possibly read, if only I get the right kind of inspired.

Re: Since I was a stay-at-home Before

[jesse_the_k]

That seems like a betrayal of all the books I might possibly read, if only I get the right kind of inspired.

Oh! I used to struggle with this and then I turned 60. I realized that I'd never get to all the books on my TBR and that's okay. In the Before times, I'd spend a couple hours a couple times a week sipping samples of interesting books and not checking them out. Tasty!

Re: Since I was a stay-at-home Before

[petra]

I've already hit my "I will never read all the books I want to read" but I'm still working on "and that's okay." I like the idea of sampling books and not checking them out very much.

Re: Since I was a stay-at-home Before

[jesse_the_k]

I look forward to the day when we both can try it again!

Re: Since I was a stay-at-home Before

[fred_mouse]

Ooh, that sucks about the pool. I haven't been in months, but of course, now I can't, I really really want to swim.

Re: Since I was a stay-at-home Before

[jesse_the_k]

In three short months our lakes will be swimmable if the pools haven't reopened. That doesn't seem an impossible amount of time to wait.

Re: Since I was a stay-at-home Before

[fred_mouse]

In theory the beaches are still open. In practice, there are so many people there that the local media have been doing shaming news reports. We'd have to find somewhere quiet. And our state has just gone to no movement between regions, which means that we can't get to many quiet beaches. I'm promising myself a bath if I get 40 hours of work done this week (2 days done on target, I think I'm in a routine)

[starshipfox]

I've been really struggling with the loss of swimming too. I have fibromyalgia, and it helps a lot to be in the water -- I wish I was back there. It's hard to have no idea when I'll be able to go back.

[jesse_the_k]

I feel you — another fibromite. There’s nothing quite so wonderful as the life aquatic!

Given that we begin swimming, it’s odd that returning to the water requires such extensive infrastructure.

[starshipfox]

I guess nobody could stop me from leaping into the sea, but the cold is so bad for my fibro it wouldn't be very helpful for me overall. It is a shame that swimming takes so much infrastructure.