Realmente, desde el 2012 tengo una mala salud. Una enfermedad autoinmunitaria se reactivó ese año y no he logrado que entre en recesión. Esta enfermedad se ha complicado con otros padecimientos propios de mi edad, como la perimenopausia.

Reconozco que mi mala salud es mi responsabilidad en buena medida. Nunca quise hacer ejercicio, he tenido una vida sedentaria; tal vez no como mucha comida chatarra, pero soy muy golosa; si estoy enferma y no tengo dinero, no hago nada por ir al médico, me quedo así. En resumen: he tratado mi cuerpo con poco respeto y cuidado. Lo reconozco.

El 13 de agosto tuve una gripe muy fuerte que duró dos semanas y los síntomas coincidían con el COVID 19. Por cuestiones económicas, no pude realizarme la prueba de COVID 19. En el 2017 tuve un derrame pleural en uno de lo pulmones. En agosto 2020, tuve algunos de los mismos síntomas que experimenté en esa ocasión, pero por la falta de dinero no pude realizarme una radiografía para ver qué estaba pasando en el pulmón. Solo sentí dolor, no podía respirar y mi capacidad respiratoria decayó mucho. Pero logré salir de la enfermedad con la medicación que tenía en casa.

Debido a la pandemia, tuve que buscar que mis familiares me atendieran y eso ha significado mudarme. Además, me quedé con una capacidad respiratoria limitada (no puedo subir gradas, me cuesta caminar las distancias largas, no soporto que fumen cerca de mí porque me pongo ronca y me ahogo, por ejemplo). Aun con esto, creo que he recuperado un poco la capacidad respiratoria en estas semanas.

Realmente no le hago mucho caso al cuerpo, si lo logro levantar de la cama todas las mañanas es que estoy bien. Yo vivo en mi mente. Al combinar mi mente y mi voluntad logro vivir. Y ellas se encargan de arrastrar el cuerpo a lo que sea. Así es y así ha sido.

I have maintained a heavy zoom contact load in the past week. The connections include several groups that have extended far back in time, pre-covid. I have not bern travelling with my husband anywhere - except one libg day trip to select burial plots in Massachusetts. We love the two plots we selected - and will both be cremated. The lagoon we overlook is near the entrance of the Jewish memorial park and nearby many of my husband's relatives are buried - including his only sibling, a younger sister who died in an accident ehen she was only twenty-one. Back at home, our “Departures” magazine arrived so I decided to create a dream world. Each photograph is from just one magazine: Petra in Jirdan, a Greek island sanctuary, ice bergs in the Antarctic, doorway in the midwest, a throne/ladder art piece, window to nowhere, row biat, tea service, wooden row boat - yearning woman in billowing outfit that is sunlit from a ling side window and the act of collaging brought peace. I shared my collage with zoom folks and members if Write Out during the national write out day, i read a poem on zoom that I wrote - first of my poems read aloud on zoom! I ince Jane Goidhall ifcshe cared to read a piem about her husband in a book she had written. She was lecturing locally and my artwork was on the walls as she read her poem. It was a touching poem as she described how her imagination helps her cope. She looked up after completing the last line and smiled, “No one has ever asked me to read my poem aloud before.” I smiled back in her direction and felt a connection - one that informed me that now in this pandemic, in this tome of great losses of friends who recently died, I would find comfort by sharing my words and showing my collage - so here it is for you to see. My friend who died last March showed a collage in last winter’s art exhibition I curated. I decided to try a collage myself. No civid touches my images, the collage is a safe place where I may travel to anytime!

Our financial situation is fine. My husband already wotked remotely and his office was already in our home. We are older and in good health - a large oral surgery bill was no problem but the dentist who broke my tooth should be sued. We were refunded deposits for a fabulous October trip to Pompei and Capri. I received an artist grant. I would love to plan a mural in our smaller sanctuary at our shul that represents this time period. It may not be literal but whatever is painted will have been dine by artists in a pandemic. Hopefully not to be repeated. We ran a fund raiser for essential workers and received medals. - see picture. We will run a 5k for a fundraiser benefitting a school for autistic students - we are donating to state parks, therapeutic riding programs, native American projects - we are comfortable in our home without financial worries. We wantvto support Essential Workers often - and thank them each time they provide a needed service!

I never wanted to home school. We live in an area with a good public school system and he was happy in school. Then COVID hit. He is in elementary school so I can't just let him do his work without helping him. He's not used to running a schedule. I'm having to interrupt my work often every day. He also doesn't like school as much as he once did. I'm worried that he will stop liking school. He is doing okay with the assignments, but I have to be much more involved than I was planning to be for his schooling. The school is doing a decent job. I just would like some time to work on my own without him here.

I gave birth to my little girl three weeks ago.. Just as a 'second wave' was beginning to affect Greece. I have been extremely happy due to the arrival of my beautiful daughter, but I also have a ton of emotions, positive, mixed and sometimes even negative, as is usual in this stage after birth.. where hormones and emotions all run very high.

The re-rise of Covid-19 in my country has also affected me quite negatively. I am afraid to meet people, and to introduce my daughter to anyone but my relatives. I don't know how long this will last, which is the scariest part of it all. nor how many victims we are yet to count, globally.

I am also afraid that the blow on the economy at this second stage, on a pan-European scale, will be huge.

Generally, I am cautious and fearful, but I am also filled with optimism. Perhaps it's because I gave birth to new life, and this breeds hope.

I keep comparing our current era to a century ago; the interwar period, which was full of violence, the rise of fascism, and uncertainty. And I think, "it's not as bad as then, at least".

I’m not sure the pandemic has changed my political views as much as the president’s handling of it, and the way with which information and misinformation and disinformation is perpetuated. It’s like people are walking on the beach and picking up shells like this and reading some oracle of truth to get their information. I understand people are afraid, and in many cases they should be. I understand the country was founded on certain principles like “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. However, that does not mean you get to do whatever you want. There is an implied caveat here...”life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness BUT NOT at the expense of others,” I understand it’s nearly impossible to change someone’s beliefs, so I’ve tried to look for the shred of truth. For example, if you trace back the conspiracy theory that certain leaders are cannibals you can trace back and find that It stems from their partaking of a communion service (which is purported to be the blood and body of Christ) In Africa at the request of a community leader, See cannibals! How silly and desperate to perpetuate this to create this huge divide that’s pitting us against each other. In the middle of a pandemic! I don’t understand wanting to hate that much? It scares me to think what the next few months might become. I want to believe my fellow Americans are smart enough to know we need to heal and find ways to work together if we have any hope for future generations. Or what happens when the next virus comes? Or the one after that? Or the one after that?

Before the pandemic, my social life consisted mainly of work, family, and kids' activities. I work everyday in a hospital, so social interactions continue there, although all behind masks. Going out to lunch with colleagues has stopped. Interactions with household family haven't changed. Kids' activities have stopped completely because my kids do orchestra and choir, so all of those evening and weekend rehearsals are not happening.

I've visited my parents a few times (they live 20 miles away from me), mainly to help with things around the house. I wear a mask the entire time I'm there. My mom tries to ply me with food, which I will eat, but only while in a different room from anyone else. Our pre-pandemic get-togethers always centered around food. I would like to find other activities to do with my parents. My mother and I played golf together once and we can also play duets (we both play the violin).

In April, we started meeting regularly with some friends on Zoom and I am setting up a few meetings with my college roommates. Both of these meetings involve friends from opposite coasts so it's been nice to see everyone.

We are entering the puja season which is so much about family and coming together to celebrate. It's not like I do that much in a regular year since I don't live near family and I don't live in India. But this year I'm feeling like I really miss it--thinking of how celebrations in India are taking place at such a dangerous time, worrying about family there, feeling even more distanced from my immediate family in the States who have been dealing with isolation for so many long months now. I guess, feeling the need now to connect more spiritually,

Slowly gaining my sanity back. The second lockdown is over, and the third is behind the corner. My little one is back in her preschool, the 1st grader is on a private “corona summer school” (about 8-11 first-grade kids and two teachers), since school has not resumed yet. It costs us a 100 NIS a day (about 30$) and it’s worth every Shekel. I made myself coffee, and drank it really slowly. Nothing is really over, of course. And I still don’t get to be alone (my husband is working from home too). But at least I can imagine from here what this regained life is going to look like.

This is as much of the outside world that I've interacted with in person for the past 5 days since I've been stuck in quarantine in Thailand. Although I am able to call my friends and family all over the world with modern technology, it is still very different from in-person interactions and even small talk with random people at the grocery store could fulfill those needs for me, but unfortunately, I have not seen any real person in the past 5 days. Although food gets delivered to my room, the people delivering the food are instructed to not come in contact with the people in quarantine and thus knock to indicate that food has arrived, and then quickly leave the area outside my hotel door.

Como a la mayoría de los que conozco, y desconocidos de las redes, tengo miedo de lo que sucederá el próximo año.

Se que aún tengo cierta esperanza guardada para continuar con mis planes, incluyendo mi graduación, pero aún me desconcierta no poder completarlo como me habría gustado que fuera; ver una vez más a mis compañeros de generación y tomarme una foto de recuerdo en mi Alma mater.

Temo por la salud de mis familiares y por la mía de igual forma.

Vivimos en un pueblo de 4 mil y pico de habitantes, somos todos conocidos... a esta altura los infectados quizás hayan sido 40, todos obviamente conocidos por todos, por lo cual las personas se solidarizan y se ponen a disposición desde el principio. También hay fuerte presencia de las autoridades locales, hospital y delegación... no hay nadie a la deriva. Al ser pocos casos se los puede trabajar bien. Y las personas particulares, con mucho o poco colaboran, envían regalos y frases alentadoras, se ve todo publicado por redes sociales. Así que mi respuesta es si, las personas se apoyan mucho

This has been a tough week. Covid fatigue is one thing. Anxiety about the elections another...those feelings I’ve been dealing with fine, I thought. After flipping back and forth between the town halls and such different visions of what represents America and who we are, and who we want to be, left me reeling. I don’t watch the news so am pretty insular to such a stark difference. It left me numb And unmotivated to do much... my screen time is up as I surf YouTube for something, anything to lift my spirits ... Well not just anything as cute puppy and adorable kittens feel too immature and wasted. I need knowledge, I need to learn something, I need to feel that somehow in the midst of all the divisiveness in the country knowledge is power and I can take back mine some how. So tiptoeing past TikTok, no politics, and no conspiracy theories is not necessarily an easy journey. A crystal in my window gave me this prism on the wall. The colors danced and shimmered and got lighter and brighter from moment to moment. It gave me hope that the dark cloud i felt settling over me might be held at bay somehow. If the smallest bit of light can change a dull flat empty white space to a reminder of joy, and color however brief the encounter, then maybe there can be some sort of symbiotic energy transfer to my soul. Then i realized I have a choice each day to decide if I want to carry forth the lasting shimmer of possibility, or the blank emptiness of the white void. That choice is mine to make, and is the start of taking back my power.