I interviewed my grandmother Sally for this assignment for a few reasons, but mainly because I always appreciate her advice in both good and bad times of life. Now more than ever, I think it's critical to take advice and wisdom from those who have experienced greater difficulties than ourselves, whether in their personal lives, through society, or with some combination of the two.
I asked my granny all kinds of questions about how to handle COVID-19, and I think that as usual, her advice was helpful. I asked first how she was handling the virus, and the long and short of it is that she is “being a fanatic for sanitizing everything,” reading a lot of books, binging Gilmore Girls per my suggestion, and is generally trying to avoid getting depressed. As was a common theme in our class discussion, she is nostalgically remembering better times, and sort of living in denial about what’s happening right now. I think that living in denial can be necessary if you are a worrier or are very empathetic, because otherwise everything is too sad and stressful to bear.
My granny’s main advice for young people in dealing with the current pandemic includes a few main components: keeping busy, living in the moment, and focusing on connections with loved ones and your community. First, she says, “you have to accept the pandemic for what it is; even for those who have not lost family members, there are other things to grieve.” In order to get beyond that, you can only do what you are able: do the things that make you happy and try to focus on the day to day without getting caught up in the ominous future. Focus on the people you love, and focus on people in your community who you don’t even know if you are able. Likewise, don’t be afraid to rely on family and friends for emotional/physical support if needed (a common theme throughout our class discussion as well). “We can only do what we can do, and worrying becomes useless fast. Make yourself as happy as you can while you have the ability to do so.”
I asked my granny all kinds of questions about how to handle COVID-19, and I think that as usual, her advice was helpful. I asked first how she was handling the virus, and the long and short of it is that she is “being a fanatic for sanitizing everything,” reading a lot of books, binging Gilmore Girls per my suggestion, and is generally trying to avoid getting depressed. As was a common theme in our class discussion, she is nostalgically remembering better times, and sort of living in denial about what’s happening right now. I think that living in denial can be necessary if you are a worrier or are very empathetic, because otherwise everything is too sad and stressful to bear.
My granny’s main advice for young people in dealing with the current pandemic includes a few main components: keeping busy, living in the moment, and focusing on connections with loved ones and your community. First, she says, “you have to accept the pandemic for what it is; even for those who have not lost family members, there are other things to grieve.” In order to get beyond that, you can only do what you are able: do the things that make you happy and try to focus on the day to day without getting caught up in the ominous future. Focus on the people you love, and focus on people in your community who you don’t even know if you are able. Likewise, don’t be afraid to rely on family and friends for emotional/physical support if needed (a common theme throughout our class discussion as well). “We can only do what we can do, and worrying becomes useless fast. Make yourself as happy as you can while you have the ability to do so.”