Like many of you, I am beginning my sixth week of extreme social distancing. My work life, social life, and family life have all moved online. I am very happy to maintain my connections with students, friends and family. My advanced literature course has turned into a fabulous Zoom book club discussing Zola’s Le Ventre de Paris (The Belly of Paris). And raucous family happy hours (“cocktail hour” as Mom calls it) launch me into each weekend.
Yet in spite of the abundance of positive and supportive interactions, I’ve had to find ways to keep my pandemic anxiety at bay. I’m coming to understand that when daily existence is dramatically different from anything we’ve previously known, we must call on our own spiritual or philosophical foundations and tap into our personal strength as a means to soothe ourselves. I expect that you each practice your own calming rituals. Today I share a few of mine, as a few of you may want to adopt and adapt one of these practices.
Long Walks and Audio Books
Reading has always been my balm, but with a heavier work load, expanded screen time, and physical stagnation, I’ve found it very difficult to settle down with a book. Audio books have rescued me! Every day that it doesn’t rain, I walk for an hour and listen to an audiobook, borrowed from my public library. All of my pandemic reading has been escapist: The Most Fun We Ever Had (Claire Lombardo), The Burning Chambers (Kate Mosse), and A Long Petal of the Sea (Isabel Allende). A family drama, an historical novel set in Toulouse, and the great Chilean author’s most recent novel. Each and every one has been a joyful, intriguing read.
No Waste Kitchen
My grandma always said that cooking was her therapy. It’s my therapy too, but I’ve had to change my approach during the pandemic. I can’t pop out to the grocery store on a whim like I used to. I must work with what I have on hand, and I have become very strict about waste in my kitchen. No parsley stem goes unused. Each and every knob of ginger gets worked into a dish, and I constantly strategize about how I can best use freezer space. Some of my meals have been deliciously memorable. A few have flopped. But each and every day, the process has been grounding.
Reading with Nora
Before the coronavirus, I had never taught small children. But when I learned that my six year-old niece Nora wouldn’t be in school for the foreseeable future, my duty as aunt and educator inspired me to step into the role of first grade reading teacher. Every morning at 11:00 Nora FaceTimes me, and we spend 30-40 minutes working on reading and writing. We’ve found a pleasant, loose rhythm in our class. We take turns reading to each other from the Scholastic Learn at Home program, and then we move to a more advanced Beverley Clearly book: Beezus and Ramona. Nora reads most of the dialogue, which is challenging without becoming frustrating. And I read the rest. Some days she is enthralled! I’ve learned to be flexible in my pedagogy. Some days she just wants to tell me about walking in the woods with her dad or building a snowman. Other days, writing and drawing take precedent over reading. A few days ago, she wanted to make a prank phone call to Uncle Jack, so we did. For me, the priority is keeping everything fun and wrapping up the lesson when I see Nora’s attention lagging. The regularity and lightness of our class has been stabilizing for me. Although I have always felt that I know Nora well, I am getting to know her better each week. Not just as an aunt, but as a first-grade reading teacher and as a confidant.
Tea. Always Tea.
I have long been a devoted tea drinker. My favorite tea shop is still shipping and offering curbside pickup, so my tea cupboard is staying stocked. I have also used long days at home to dig deep into my tea collection. I’ve pulled out rare oolongs that need multiple steepings to bring out their nuances; I’ve dug into samples that tea friends have gifted me in the last few years; this afternoon I sipped a wild Pu-erh from my friend Nana Ding’s Strasbourg shop. The ritual of preparing tea is soothing in itself, but scientific research is beginning to demonstrate the health benefits of tea that come from caffeine, EGCG, and L-theanine.
How are you self-soothing these days?
The depth of nothingness is directly related to the experience of everythingness. —Matthew Fox
I’ve spent years combing the internet for tips on preparing my own meals for airplane travel. Especially on long haul flights, I like to bring my own food along for the ride—it is healthy and economical. Some food bloggers prepare fairly intricate, time-intensive recipes for their trips, but with the last-minute chaos I inevitably encounter before I take off, I must keep things simple. In this post I share my strategy for putting together meals for travel and give you a few examples of recent meals I’ve packed.
I am just back from a brief business trip to France and basking in the glory of home. My days in Nantes passed in a flash—meetings, a bit of research, a few get-togethers with friends, and inordinate amounts of bread, cheese, and Muscadet. Then… poof! The week was over and I was headed home.
Every so often I take a day or two to engage in extreme rest. I have created a structured life for myself, so it is never convenient, never easy to drop everything in favor of rest. But I’ve found that stillness staves off burnout. Letting my thoughts fall away energizes me. And successive naps in the span of a few days reengage my creativity, helping me to maintain levity and optimism.
My ten days in Australia were magical. I had never imagined I would travel there, so apart from the Sydney Opera House and kangaroos, I didn’t hold any fixed images of what Australia might be or mean to me. Arriving without expectations left me open to experiencing each day’s offerings—beach walks, fish markets, Aboriginal art. At each turn there was a friendly face ready to welcome me to Australia and perhaps point me to my next adventure.
Inspired by Vladia Cobrodova’s Creamy Mint Pesto, this spread freezes well, so consider making a double batch when mint is abundant.
Outdoor markets and picnics. Quintessential French experiences that join food, fellowship, and nature. Versailles is lucky to have some of the best farmers’ markets in the greater Paris area. So why not take advantage of the abundance and pair a morning market visit with a picnic lunch?