Author: Christina Bruni

Christina Bruni is the author of the new book Working Assets: A Career Guide for Peers. She contributed a chapter "Recovery is Within Reach" to Benessere Psicologico: Contemporary Thought on Italian American Mental Health.

Living in the Epicenter of the Pandemic

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I wanted to write about what it’s like to live in New York City–the epicenter of the pandemic.

1 in 5 New York City residents have been infected.

15,500 people here have died from the coronavirus.

58,000 people in the U.S. have died from the coronavirus.

1 million Americans in the U.S. have been infected.

The novel coronavirus appeared in the U.S. as early as late December 2019.

As a person who works with 100s of members of the public everyday I was at a greater risk for far longer than I should’ve been.

New York libraries shut down on March 16. It was revealed that the coronavirus appeared in New York State as early as mid-February.

I was put at risk far longer than I should’ve been. I don’t take this lightly.

Going outdoors I wear a black bandanna. I have a host of 10 red bandannas that I will alternate with the black bandannas.

You have to wash the bandannas frequently after using them.

I find myself gasping for air under the bandanna when I’m walking outside.

Screwed-up are the people who go outside and don’t wear a bandanna.

They’re putting other people at risk of getting infected.

Living through this tragedy in the form of disease I’ve come to a turning point in how I want to move forward writing blog entries here.

The pandemic has changed how I see things.

I’ve become more committed to championing mental and physical health for everyone living on earth.

Taking a Detour

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My life changed forever in one night in 1987 when I was 22.

I had to take a detour that lasted for 13 years. You got that right–13 years.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic I want to talk about taking a detour.

Let me tell you a detour is not a dead-end. It’s a pit stop along the way to a different path.

Maybe you’re not supposed to get what you want quickly and painlessly.

That is the goal as I see it–to embrace the struggle for what it is– a learning of something you need to know in order to get what you want.

I care a lot that in this pandemic everything seems to have been put on hold. A sunny day can be harder to envision.

I would say my life didn’t get better until I turned 35 and started my library job and moved to Brooklyn.

Sometimes where you start out isn’t where you should remain.

That is the ultimate purpose of a detour: to cement in your mind the one true path you must go down to be happy and fulfilled.

You don’t often figure out until you experience firsthand a setback the truth about who you are and where you should be going in life.

Again–I think of these things during the pandemic we’re living through. Of how it can seem like this is the end of everything–the end of your hopes and dreams for whatever you had hoped to achieve.

I say: use this time to engage in active reflection.  Get out a notebook and sketch out what your goals will be when the pandemic is over.

Shore up your good feelings while you shelter in place.

Remember that after things get better there’s so much life for all of us to live.

Adapting and Being Flexible

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I think now of the beauty and benefit of adapting to a challenge rather than expecting that things can go “Your Way” like they used to.

While the COVID-19 outbreak rages I make do–and sometimes that is all you can do–persevere in whatever fashion it comes to you to persist.

I’ve adapted in one specific way: I have a heightened sensitivity to the role of nutritious food and physical activity in promoting optimal health.

The crisis has turned out to be for me the catalyst in wanting to up my fitness game post-pandemic.

The unpredictability of getting food delivered has forced me to reconsider the food I’m able to eat right here right now.

For one I have had to buy regular produce not organic at times.

Being flexible in this regard will make all the difference. It reminds me to be grateful that after the crisis ends it will be easier to eat more healthfully.

In adapting and remaining flexible you hold the key to winning against a setback.

Which I will talk about more next.

It’s imperative to not lose sight of your life goals while experiencing a hardship.

Making Prioritizing a Habit

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One thing I’ve started to do as a coping mechanism in the time of the COVID-19 outbreak is to act strategic in planning what I need to do each week.

This sounds old-school yet prioritizing weekly activities has made all the difference.

In effect at the start of each week planning out what I want to do for that week. Right down to how and when I exercise and what meals I eat and when.

This isn’t a luxury afforded only to single persons without a family. Those of us with kids would benefit from slowing down and planning instead of  rushing about filling every hour of the day with busywork.

Years ago I read an online essay that a mother wrote about how she got off the activities treadmill with her family.

There were no soccer games on Saturdays in her house. Everyone lounged around in their pajamas instead happy at home.

In fact I think prioritizing “doing nothing” is imperative in our jam-packed lives.

Sheltering in place I’m reminded of the Italian ethic of dolce far niente or the sweetness of doing nothing.

One thing I’m making a priority too is enriching my mind. I’m devoted to picking out a couple of books from my new book pile and reading them.

Prioritizing might just give us back our sanity in a time of uncertainty.

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Side note:

Folks: I might have led you astray. It’s now impossible to schedule FreshDirect or PeaPod to deliver anytime soon or at all in this crisis. This turn of events happened last Thursday. The time slots fill up within minutes if you’re lucky to get one.

The only way to order from FreshDirect is to go on their website at 12:15 a.m. And hope it doesn’t crash from the record number of people logging on.

Mi dispiace – I’m sorry.

 

Recovering in the Time of COVID-19

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I consider my target market to be everyone who wants to have a better life.

Not just people in recovery. For a moment though I want  talk in more detail about recovery in the time of COVID-19.

The remedy is that the action a person takes can aid them in healing right alongside the pills.

After the COVID-19 pandemic ends we can’t go back to judging people for taking pills. Nor can we revert to judging people who are making strides in their recovery by holding a job or having an apartment.

Cheers to everyone who wants to have a better life regardless of the severity of their illness or other hardship!

What I’m saying:

Our lives cannot be measured out in doses and disability.

We’re individuals with skills, abilities, and strengths. These things count more than the pill count in a bottle.

Everything I write in this blog is geared to empowering readers by giving you information you could use that might benefit you.

We will recover from the COVID-19 pandemic as well.

In coming blog entries I’m going to give more insight gained living through this crisis.

Good to know:

12-Step meetings are now being held via online video.

Moving Forward in the Blog

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I want to start to talk about things no one else has dared talk about.

The number-one takeaway I’ve come away with while having been inside my apartment for 3 weeks is this:

Art is a Guaranty of Sanity

like the refrigerator magnet I bought proclaims.

My destiny appears to be to use the creative process to turn my ideas into reality.

By blogging and writing books to educate, entertain, and empower my target market.

Which as I see it is people who want to recover and need to recover.

My goal is to advance my vision of recovery from whatever a person is in recovery from.

This can be from an illness, from a micro-aggression, from any kind of setback hardship or obstacle either internal or external.

No–we cannot go back to the way things were in society before the CO-VI19 outbreak.

Egotism and bigotry must not prevail.

People cannot continue to hate and judge each other.

We need to halt acting greedy and seedy pursuing power at the expense of other human beings.

I identify as an Artist.

As an Artist, I believe in the transformative beauty of creating art to make the world a better place.

There’s so much that’s not right in society. I would like to do my part to change the frequency in terms of shifting the needle to the left of the dial.

To start a dialogue where everyone is free to speak the truth about who they are and why they’re here in this lifetime.

To use the blogs as an outlet to help others believe that recovery is possible.

To continue to write mostly about topics geared to mental and physical health.

To give readers a shot in the arm of confidence to express themselves without fear of reprisal.

I firmly believe that each of us is possessed with a power bigger than our pain.

The CO-VID19 outbreak will end.

It’s time to plan for a better future for ourselves, our loved ones, and the planet.

 

Recovering from an Illness, Setback, or Crisis

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As a creative person I’ve learned that doubt and confidence go hand-in-hand. You can’t “always” be confident and “never” doubt yourself.

In terms of recovery a person might be afraid to have a relapse or setback. This is only natural.

Again I will refer readers to the book Changeology: 5 Steps to Realizing Your Goals and Resolutions.

While sheltering in place and continuing to write the new novel I’ve seen that doubt can be a constant companion.

The goal in recovery as it is in life as I see it is to persist in the face of doubt.

You might doubt that things will return to normal after the pandemic. Or after you’ve faced any kind of struggle or hardship. Rightly so.

I believe that living through this crisis and surviving will give us the courage to go after our goals. Instead of sitting on the sidelines waiting to be called into the game.

This is my sincere hope that something good can come of having sheltered in place.

I’ve decided that returning to “normal” can’t be my goal once I’m carrying on outside again.

My mantra has always been that it’s just as easy to dream big as it is to settle for less.

Why not believe that recovery will be possible in whatever guise it comes to you as?

Why not go after your goals with gusto?

Why not?

Using the Creative Process to Heal

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Having sheltered in place for over 2 weeks has gotten me to think and reflect on planning for the future.

I’ve formulated the goal to publish fiction with a traditional publisher.

While in my apartment I have been writing a new novel.

As an Artist who is an Author I have long touted using the creative process to heal from an illness.

I was lucky that 5 days before New York City shut down I was able to go in person to Best-Buy to order a new computer.

Since then I’ve been writing the new novel.

My experience while indoors living through this pandemic has reinforced my vision that recovery is possible.

Engaging in the creative process–sketching and painting, listening to the radio or playing an instrument, writing poetry or short stories or a book–can enable a person to live through a crisis like the one we’re experiencing.

Engaging in the creative process enabled me to heal from a serious illness.

The CO-VID19 pandemic has tragically ended a lot of people’s lives. I”m not discounting that death is possible because of the coronavirus.

What I’m getting at is that living through this pandemic by sheltering in place has changed my view of living life on an ordinary day.

Once the CO-VID19 outbreak has resolved I plan to act bolder. To not take anyone else’s bull crap. To walk to the edge of my comfort zone and keep on going.

I have more to say about using the creative process to recover. I’ll talk about this in the next blog entry.

Grabbing Life by the Horns

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I wanted to talk about my sudden realization. It was brought on because I’ve been sheltering in place for over 2 weeks so far.

I’ve decided that my life can’t go on the way it was before the CO-VID19 outbreak.

I have been thinking about my goals and thinking about them some more.

In toiling away at my computer I was reminded of a section in a book I read. The author referred to how a Japanese court musician played his instrument in an empty room without an audience.

By embarking on writing the new novel I have learned that you must want to achieve a goal for your own enjoyment of the process of achieving it. Not to seek external recognition. In the end the outcome doesn’t matter either.

It’s your courage to risk trying to achieve a goal that counts more.

Sheltering in place has awakened in me the desire to grab life by the horns and go after my goals with gusto.

I will talk about goal-setting more in the next blog entry.

For those interested a professional perspective about mental health in this pandemic:

Alt 92.3 FM at radio.com at 8:00 p.m. supposedly has Dr. Chris talking about mental health in the time of the pandemic.

No, I am not that Dr. Chris.

 

 

Thriving in a Crisis – Some Thoughts

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New York State has the highest recorded number of cases of CO-VID19  in the United States.

In New York City where I live Mayor DeBlasio has stated that it’s possible that upwards of 50 percent of the residents will become infected.

This blog entry is the first in a carnival of entries I want to write on the topic of thriving in a crisis.  You might learn something from my experience having sheltered in place for over two weeks.

I submit that protecting your mental health in a time of crisis like this pandemic we’re experiencing is predicated on one simple tactic: enjoying your own company when you’re alone.

Not seeking to numb your thoughts and feelings with snacks, food, drugs, or alcohol.

You need to like yourself when you’re alone because that’s what matters in the end–not whether other people like you when you’re outside.

I don’t like to watch to TV. Watching TV is touted as a pleasant activity. In fact  I detest watching TV.

While sheltering in place I have started to write a new novel that is a work of fiction.

In the coming blog entries I want to talk about how thriving in a crisis is possible.

My experience sheltering in place has profoundly altered how I see things.