Isolation: How Do We Handle it?

For all the readers in our group who need a source of books: I just recently discovered a free app called, "Hoopla." When you register, it connects you with your local library and you can "borrow" books, videos, audiobooks, etc. from the library and you can download them on your phone, Ipad, Kindle, etc. You can keep e-books for about 3 weeks and videos for about 3 days. If you can't get out to get new books or videos this is a great "free" option!

@hopeful33250 Thanks Teresa that's a great idea with library's closed we can at least still get a book or audio

Our daughter stopped by after work today and dropped off a care package for mom and dad - several home made masks, a box of Trader Joe's Ginger Turmeric organic tea and some Trader Joe's Organic Tomato Basil Soup. She had her mask on and we tried on the masks she made for us and we had a nice 10 minute plus meeting 6+ feet apart on our front porch before waving good-bye. Not hugging is hard for moms and dads 🙁

I'm the same way. I started working mostly from home just after 9/11 when it was my job as a columnist for the Toronto Star, Canada's largest paper, to monitor and criticize media coverage, Canadian and American. I had my dogs and she (and later he) would get me out 3-4 times a day and I got to know all my neighbours. In 2012, I downsized to a downtown condo highrise, of which I am now president. I rely heavily on social media and my condo blog. I avoid chit chat with owners. I don't do windows, ya know? I like my solitude, most of the time anyway. I am too scared to interact with people now! When I venture out it's with a change of shoes, a mask, Lysol wipes in each hand... Thanks for the test link. Gonna check it out!

@antoniaz Welcome to Mayo Connect! I hope you will come back and let us know what you find out about your personality type and isolation. I personally found the article was right on as far as my own type goes [INTJ]. Wondering if others found it holds generally true, also.
What has brought you to Mayo Connect? How did you find us, not that we are hidden away, but it is always interesting to understand the path someone takes to get here? What ways can we help you, today?
Ginger

I have to admit I am a total extrovert, and isolation is physical & mental torture to me. We have a small closed community, have all been pretty isolated together for weeks; if I couldn't go out and walk and talk, at safe distance, I would have a hard time surviving. Really! I have a single daughter who is like me, has been almost 4 weeks in Covid-19 quarantine - I don't know if she could have survived the isolation without Zoom, and the fact that she was helping her fellow nurses from behind the scenes as their union steward and workplace advocate throughout her entire illness.
With a number of my co-volunteers, we are trying to figure out what our organizations will look like going forward, because it is our feeling that we are looking at many months of social distancing before we are past this pandemic - at least until there widely available post-tests, good answers about whether previous infection that confers immunity, proven treatments that are available, and a vaccine.
How do you see Covid-19 changing your world for the long-term?
Sue

@sueinmn I hope to see people taking cleanliness and good hygiene more seriously, everyday. I also hope to see kindnesses that we experience now, continue. Saying "thank you" or "please", helping someone reach for an item on the shelf without hesitation, for example. For myself, I hope that I will be better able to come to an understanding of how extroverts' minds work, and that they will also be more forgiving to those of us who are introverts.
Ginger

@sueinmn I hope that Covid-19 will have some positive effects for all of us. Helping strangers, being more connected with family, more consideration for the have-nots, the valuable role of science, and on and on. Wouldn’t it be great if we had a better world!

I was talking to a friend and we both agreed that we would never take anything, however small, for granted. I am more grateful now for my family, friends and neighbors. We need to pull together more than ever regardless of politics, race and finances, people are dying everyday!!

So true, Mayofeb. Gratitude for me is suddenly having all communication systems go down...computer, tv, home phone...because the service provider needed to work on the alley hookups...32 hours is a long wait but Jubilation was the response once everything was back up and running again!!!