Ultimately, worse than being isolated at home in a wheelchair.
For nearly half of the last 12 months, because of a severely broken foot, I learned life in a wheelchair. It was confirmed I would need a second surgery, and within a week I was fired. That was Sept. of last year. My doctors expected me to be fully walking in January - that unfortunately didn't turn out to be the case - it took a few more months.
Just as I was finally able to drive again, and seriously look at work again, this pandemic struck. All events and interviews canceled.
I decided to do health assessment and triage volunteering at our local homeless shelter for over 2 months, which was quite helpful for the time I could tolerate it.
Living alone in a metro area feels almost more suffocating than being in a less populated area. When everything shut down, I was actually happy to be able to volunteer and help those without a home to go to. When things opened up in my state, and some people's sentiment's changed about the seriousness of this virus, I've sort of sunk into a bit of a hole.
I'm continuing to be positive when I can, and it is a struggle. Plenty of financial woes exist, but I'm still here. Depression is an absolute for me lately, although I've been working to lift myself out in part trying to indirectly help others, and by focusing more on my own mental health.
So, I'm holding up, but not well. Being alone is one of the biggest factors (no pets, no family in area, few friends), but so is the situation we all find ourselves in constantly changing in terms of the right/wrong. I focus on data quite a bit and it's hard to reconcile.
For nearly half of the last 12 months, because of a severely broken foot, I learned life in a wheelchair. It was confirmed I would need a second surgery, and within a week I was fired. That was Sept. of last year. My doctors expected me to be fully walking in January - that unfortunately didn't turn out to be the case - it took a few more months.
Just as I was finally able to drive again, and seriously look at work again, this pandemic struck. All events and interviews canceled.
I decided to do health assessment and triage volunteering at our local homeless shelter for over 2 months, which was quite helpful for the time I could tolerate it.
Living alone in a metro area feels almost more suffocating than being in a less populated area. When everything shut down, I was actually happy to be able to volunteer and help those without a home to go to. When things opened up in my state, and some people's sentiment's changed about the seriousness of this virus, I've sort of sunk into a bit of a hole.
I'm continuing to be positive when I can, and it is a struggle. Plenty of financial woes exist, but I'm still here. Depression is an absolute for me lately, although I've been working to lift myself out in part trying to indirectly help others, and by focusing more on my own mental health.
So, I'm holding up, but not well. Being alone is one of the biggest factors (no pets, no family in area, few friends), but so is the situation we all find ourselves in constantly changing in terms of the right/wrong. I focus on data quite a bit and it's hard to reconcile.
Hope this didn't seem too much of a ramble.