Hey gang. I hope – in the sincerest of terms – that you are well and taking care of yourselves. Covid-19 is a monster of unprecedented proportion. Same goes for all the precautions we must take to prevent the spread of this nightmare disease.
From now until June, all but a minor amount of my work for the British Red Cross has been put on hold (with pay I’m pleased to report). So vast swathes of my calendar now are free. Dream come true? Hardly. There’s nowhere I can to go, no flights I can take, no opportunities even to congregate with friends. To be clear, I’m virus-free, and I’m extremely glad for it. Nevertheless, I worry that I’m going to go stir crazy with so much of daily life on hiatus. So I’m revving up this blog again as a tool to accentuate the positive and keep my own (and maybe your) mental health in the best shape possible.
Soon after starting at the Red Cross (just over a year ago), I paused all but the most rudimentary activity related to this blog. Before the job, I used to love pointing people in the direction of tikichris.com. Once the new job commenced in earnest, I became embarrassed by how scant and unkempt this site began to look.
With Covid-19 isolation comes a chance to give my blog a proper spring cleaning and start flexing my writerly muscles again. But with no restaurants to review, no bars to visit or press trips to latch onto, I obviously need to rethink how to go about something I called a career for 13 years.
Here’s what I’ve come up with: Five Good Things, a regularly updated series of posts sharing lists of ‘five good things’ to help me combat the manifold crap swirling through my mind these days.
The logic behind the series goes like this: for every negative thing that happens to somebody, it takes at least five positive things to counteract the crummy feelings associated with it. For example, let’s say you get into a fight with your partner. It’s going to take five or more niceties, compliments, positive interactions, etc for the two of you to return to feeling good about each other. Bad weighs more than good apparently.
With that notion in mind, I intend to publish posts on a daily(ish) basis that share five positive thoughts in an effort to ward away the unhelpful, unproductive and worrisome ideas seeping into my thinking. For the Five Good Things series, the things comprising my lists will be thought from off the top of my head. Rather than ponderous intellectualising, the aim will be to think light and spontaneous thoughts.
I’ll practice this mental exercise throughout the day (indeed it’s something I’ve been doing for years) but try to publish once or twice a day as a more concrete activity and as encouragement for you to do the same.
Such light and immediate thoughts could look something like the following …
Five Good Things
1. There’s suddenly time to focus on a lot of ‘if I only had time to do it’ activities that I’ve been putting off;
2. Cleaning out my fridge this morning, I came across a near empty tube of chestnut puree. That last bit of puree tasted great on a piece of buttered toast;
3. I took two long walks yesterday. The sun is out at the moment. So I’m heading out for a morning stroll right after I publish this post;
4. Business is booming at the corner shop near my house. I’m glad they’re making money and are able to aid the community with basic supplies and necessities;
5. Trying to figure out how best to cope with Coronavirus uncertainty, I’ve learned that so many of my colleagues at the Red Cross have my and each other’s backs during this time of crisis.
Ah, that felt great!
So there you have it, the first of what may turn out to be many more Five Good Things updates. Next time round, I probably will go straight to the list of five things and spare you the qualifying blather. I just thought it would be smart to set up the premise with this initial post.
Please stay in touch, consider creating your own lists of five (or more) positive things, and look after your health and that of your loved ones and neighbours as never before.
All my Five Good Things lists:
https://tikichris.com/category/five-good-things/
Love,
Chris
NHS Covid-19 Advice:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
How the British Red Cross is Helping with Coronavirus:
https://www.redcross.org.uk/about-us/what-we-do/uk-emergency-response/coronavirus
