My Pandemic Journal

I began keeping a Pandemic Journal on March 13 after seeing a recommendation on Twitter.  I selected a red Leuchterm1917 journal that I had on hand. I love the smooth pages, the heftiness, dual page markers, pocket folder in back, the rounded corners, and the dotted lines. This journal measures 5.75 x 8.25 inches.

Things I put in my journal include:

• Tracking cases and lives lost
• What I’m seeing in my community
• My fears and concerns
• How our life has changed
• Store openings/closings
• Notes of people I know who have Covid-19 or were tested for it
• Things I’ve lost or missed due to the pandemic (trips, events, connections with friends)
• Newspaper headlines (historic unemployment rates, stimulus checks, news in other countries)

Who knows what things will look like when we come out the other side of the Covid-19 pandemic. Headlines are one thing, but as we find from being at home so much, the days blend together and it’s hard to remember what happened when. I have a daily journal where I write a few lines of what is going on in our lives. Before the pandemic, I could usually do this at the end of the week by looking at my day planner to see what went on. Now I have found that to remember and capture the events/thoughts/etc of the day, I need to write things down daily.

This article appeared recently in the Washington Post: Aging in Place: Many of us feel way older than we did just weeks ago. I resonated with much of what was described. Maybe you will too.