Getting by in 2020
There will be no Great American Novel from The Legal Genealogist‘s pen — or keyboard — in 2020.
The stay-at-home time caused by the COVID-19 pandemic will not result in a creative burst.
No new garden planted.
No quilting or sewing projects.
No major home repair or decorating undertakings.
My closets and drawers are not being weeded out and reorganized. I will not be taking up yoga. I don’t expect to make any major genealogical breakthroughs.
Most days, frankly, it’s as much as I can to do keep myself clean and fed and clothed and to meet my daily professional obligations on time. Well, at least most of them.
And you know what? That’s okay.
Staying calm and washing our hands is enough.
Getting through each day with heart and soul intact — or even mostly intact — is more than enough.
At a time when, at least in my area, everyone knows someone who has suffered with this virus and most of us know someone who’s been lost to it, it’s perfectly okay simply to keep on keeping on. There’s no need to beat ourselves up because it seems we’re not making the most of every second of this at-home time. This isn’t a time when we have to diminish ourselves because our aspirations are to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Doing just that — putting one foot in front of the other — is okay.
So there may not be a blog post every day. And focusing on genealogy and the law will take second place to making sure the pantry is stocked and there’s cream for the coffee and the face masks are freshly laundered in case it’s necessary to go out while our case numbers are still high.
Right now, the emphasis is on checking in with loved ones to be sure they’re okay. It’s on rejoicing that one family member who was so desperately ill is now well on the road to recovery. It’s on petting the cat and filling the crockpot and — sometimes — staring off at nothing and trying not to worry about where we’ll be a few days or weeks or months from now.
Right now, the emphasis is on avoiding exposure to a pathogen that could well be lethal to folks in our demographic and on avoiding something worse — far far worse — the possibility of spreading that pathogen to someone else even more vulnerable than we are.
Right now, the emphasis is going to be less on making “Carpe Diem!” the battle cry, and more on living up to what my brothers and sisters and I have always joked was our family motto: “We Shall Muddle Through.”
And that’s okay, too.
We’re all doing our best just to get by in 2020. And getting through this, by and by, little by little… that’s more than okay. That’s all we can expect of ourselves — and we need to be gentle with ourselves when we don’t change the world, or think up some amazing new invention … or even rearrange our sock drawers
Hang in there, folks.
Cite/link to this post: Judy G. Russell, “And that’s okay, too…,” The Legal Genealogist (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog : posted 28 Apr 2020).
Thank you Judy! I felt even worse believing I was the only one not able to get anything started, not being creative and and not able to tackle projects that were stashed away waiting for some time to get “around to it”. Thank you for giving permission to just get by and survive as best we can and making sure we do not become a part of the problem. The only thing I really try to add to every day is a quilt I am doing by hand. Wishing you the best.
Ah yes, “muddling”, in our genes. It’s is our way to get through issues we have no control over. We are all successful at muddling. We have achieved amazing results while muddling, when suddenly we say…”Hey, look at this”
It’s that one step at a time… you know what they say about journeys of 1000 miles beginning with that one step…
Thank you for your gentle words.
Peace be with us all.
My feeling exactly! One of the things I have taken up is playing bridge online with friends. It’s fun, engages my brain, keeps me in touch with others, and helps me to survive this lonely time. It certainly does not contribute to world peace or any other admirable goal, but it keeps me sane.
Judy, thank you for letting me know that it is OK that I have barely started the long list of things I was “going to accomplish” during the Stay-at-Home order. And it is enough that I am getting some exercise and not eating too much. And if I spend the day with my nose in a book – it is OK.
Stay safe Judy
Making a list? That’s enough!!
Early on, I coped with my anxiety and depression over the pandemic by throwing myself into non-stop sewing of face masks, and barely emerged from my sewing machine for over a month. This is not noble — it has been sheer escapism. I have attended to very little else in my life since mid-March — including my research and writing. In the past few days, I have finally been feeling the pull to turn back to my real work — but it’s still hard to focus the way I did before. It will come. We’ve been going through something unprecedented, and it would be strange if we went on as if nothing were happening. Our ancestors’ lives were shaped by the times they lived through, and so are we. Stay safe, stay well, stay sane!
Doing this work of genealogy reminds me that sometimes, the most important thing to do is to survive. Our ancestors and people we read about in history have survived far worse for far longer, and we can too. Perhaps too, this is a call to all of us to just stop for a minute already. We’ve all been pedaling so hard for so long, maybe staring out the window and petting the cat is what we needed a long time ago. Thanks for this article. I’ll share on our FB page.
My heart goes out to you all from the Sunshine Coast in Australia. We are keeping socially distanced, but personally I have had no great traumas from the virus.
Merci for your blog theme, Judy. I just finished talking in person [10′ distant] with our Genealogical Society library admnistrator, about this point. Muddling through is perfect, is fine. Good enough is in fact good enough. I am enjoying the little bit of veggie gardening I’ve done so far, and then I look at the trees down the street, listen to the birds, and go back inside and read a book with my favourite Lapsang Souchong tea [smoky]. Cheers, or as our BC Public Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says every day at the end of her updates and answers to journalists’ questions:
“Be calm, be kind, be safe.”
Well said, Judy.
I think you’re 100% correct Judy. Sending hugs your way!!
From Australia with love, Judy. Thank you for a most inspirational blog. You, that is the USA, is doing it tough and our thoughts are with you and the whole nation. Look forward to seeing you in Oz next year.
Sending kind thoughts and support to you, your own family, and the US Genealogy family. So pleased your own family member is on the road to recovery. You are doing something brave…preserving the health and safety of others from your own home. Stay safe and muddle through. Hugs.
Well, I made a list…
And that’s okay too…
Judy, bless you for this post! At heart I am a productive, results-oriented person and have been chastising myself for not being a whirling dervish around the house, tackling all of those projects on the list. You are right, some days it’s just enough to do the basics. And as you said, that’s okay.