A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

2020

The reality of life today

This year is a blur.

I mean, I’m sure most of us are happy that 2020 is already in its eighth month. And goodness knows we are all *hoping* 2021 will be better. 

It has to be, right?

The past five or six months have been a total blur. They’ve been some of the longest and toughest hours I’ve ever had professionally. Don’t get me wrong – I’m happy to have a job. I’ve been where millions of Americans currently are and I know how stressful and tough it can be. I feel for them and hope they’ll find work sooner rather than later. 

Stress since March comes in many different packages, though. 

For those on the front line (medical etc.), it’s been crazy. Having to deal with so much illness and death. For those who have had to work through this whole thing (raises hand), be it in a supermarket, or some other job considered essential. And those who were left in charge of trying to help their kids get through the end of the school year without messing up any sort of a learning process. Or having to find a way to do it and hold down a job. 

Then there’s the having to stay inside, or wear masks, or wash your hands more in a day then maybe you had in weeks before. Or hoping to find toilet paper (and other paper products) or hand sanitizer. 

I’m missing a lot here, I know. But if you think about the past 5-6 months, we’ve faced so many things. And that doesn’t even include the political or social justice side of things, which has put so many people on edge or ready to yell and scream at others. 

It’s all a blur. 

My head hurts from it all. I’ve been working in the office for a lot of this pandemic. Some days there was hardly anybody else in the building. Other times, a handful. Recently, there’s more. When I did work at home early on, it was hard. Concentration was very hard, and focus was tough. I came into the office because I could get things done. That, of course, added more though as I had this or that to help with. 

My body of professional work was actually kind of impressive. From ideas I had, to the executing of many massive projects, I am quite proud of things. 

But my mental health took a beating. And though I know depression and things like that are real, I’ve never really dealt with it. I still don’t think I have, but I definitely had some mental health battles over the past several months – and believe me, I know I’m not the only one. 

Flower photography has helped at times. Nature remains beautiful during a pandemic.

Though part of me in recent years has tended to be way more of an introvert, I still like some human contact outside of work. And doing Zoom meetups and things just don’t do it for me. Simple things weren’t possible, and that made it hard. I walked a bit more. I tried to be outside. I take a lot of photos of flowers and things like that. I listened to many podcasts. I played around online and dealt with virtual settings and games and things to try and up the entertainment value. I watched things on Netflix. 

It didn’t make it easier. 

It’s August now. 

I haven’t seen a baseball game in person this year, and I know I won’t. That’s hard for me. Baseball is a huge part of my summer, be it going by myself, with friends, or family. I love the ambiance and the sounds and the sights. I usually go on a baseball trip or three and those were canceled early in this, knowing we’d likely not be doing it. 

I had tentatively planned to work on a trip to Iceland in late September. That won’t happen. Though I’ve saved a bit more toward next September – hopefully. 

A couple of us had talked about maybe the UK in November or December to see Genesis on their reunion tour … they’ve postponed that until next year … so maybe. 

It’s still all a blur. 

You’d think I’d have blogged more with as much screen time as I’ve seemingly had. But the drive isn’t there. I stare and can’t get the words to flow. My eyes and head hurt. I am on a computer too much. Often, I’ll sit at night with my laptop on my lap and stare at the TV. Talk about a zombie at times. 

I’ve wanted to really start rolling creatively. I’ve worked on a bullet journal. Some pen pal items. Postcards. And I often stop and stare. I can’t get the creative juices flowing. I watch YouTube videos and surf groups and social media for inspiration. There’s a lot of talented people out there and I still can’t get the drive. 

I realize, too, I’m not the only one in this position. I’m lucky in that New York is one of the few states that has really improved with all of the COVID items. It’s kind of under control, to a point, and things are slowly allowing you to feel “somewhat” normal. No, you can’t do things you did before this or the same way. But we’re “under control” for a reason and we don’t need to screw that up. 

Other states are currently where New York was at the beginning of this. And that hurts everybody as it’s the warm months and people like to travel, even if they maybe shouldn’t. There’s no middle ground. 

So, we continue. 

I’m not sure if life will ever be normal again. The things we took heavily for granted might be things of the past. Businesses have closed and may never come back. Wearing a mask in some situations is almost becoming second nature. I’m curious how my job will be this fall as I expect I’ll be wearing masks more often and have no choice in it. That’s fine, too, I want us to be safe and smart so hopefully 2021 will be better than 2020. 

It’s incredible that it’s been so many months since this whole thing started. And yet, we’re not at the end yet. I once had a lot of optimism and hope. Now, I try and avoid the news and just hope eventually some positive news comes out with everything going on. 

The blur hasn’t changed, but I hope things eventually come back into focus.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!

Purge: 2020

The next seven-plus months are going to be rough. 

No matter if you are political in nature or not, this is going to be a long summer. Take the current pandemic and mix it in with the Presidential and other national elections and it’s going to be hard to deal with. 

You can be republican. You can be a democrat. You can be independent or some other party. It won’t matter. It’s going to be everywhere. 

Especially on social media. 

One thing this pandemic has taught me is it doesn’t matter what situation we are in – people’s opinions will not change. They can have a ton of facts on their side and others won’t budge. On the flip side, you can read things you think are factual and argue it until you are blue in the face. 

It doesn’t matter. 

Even in a situation we are currently in, there is no true thing as bipartisan. Each side will claim they want to be, but in the end nobody really is. 

I am not registered to any party. I have been that way since I was 18. I tend to lean one way over the other, but I have voted for both major parties during my lifetime. 

That’s as political as I’m going to get on this blog. I’ve always said politics and religion and things like that are topics I do not want to touch and I will keep it that way. There’s nothing good that comes out of it because let’s face it – I have my opinions and thoughts just as much as the next person. 

With that in mind, I also have a hard time stomaching seeing it on social media. 

My Facebook is pretty guarded. I keep my connections there lower and pretty much to people I know in person. I don’t do a lot outside of family or posting things I’ve actually done (photos/videos etc.) as I like it to be a happier place. My Twitter is a little more open, as is my Instagram. I’ve recently started to try and get my YouTube page a little better, but that will also be pretty light-hearted. 

It’s only April, though, and I’ve already had my fill of politics on social media. 

Purge 2020 is now a thing for me. 

Allow me to say this … I respect that everybody has an opinion. I can disagree. I can wonder why one can believe something that may not be factual. I know people look at me and maybe they’ll think I am not thinking factually. 

That’s fine. 

But I also don’t have to let all of this infiltrate a place I want to be fun and/or relaxing. And if I see a lot of this stuff, I tend to get worked up – much like many other people. I don’t mind a difference of opinions, but when people don’t speak factually, it drives me crazy. 

One quick example – when New York went to the executive order of wearing face masks if you couldn’t maintain social distancing. I saw many, many posts talking about how this was against our rights. This “law” was crap. And why should we have to wear masks in our homes or in our car etc. People didn’t listen or read what was done. They assumed. The order was an executive order. The governor even said there wouldn’t be fines (unless it was ignored by like everybody, in which case civil fines were possible), but it was more an executive order to show respect to those around you. 

By that example, people heard “wear face masks” and felt this was something that was being told you have to do no matter what. Look, I don’t like wearing them. But if I go into a store or the post office or something like that, I put one on. Why? Because it’s respectful to those around me who do think we should wear them. It’s not forever.

Think though, how an order like that with the idea of just protecting the population has turned political. Experts say the masks are a good thing, so why can’t we be bipartisan? 

OK, back to the point at hand. 

Purge 2020. 

I find when I see too many political posts/tweets – from both sides – it becomes overload. I have my opinions and stance and won’t likely alter it. Therefore, from now until November 8, I’m not going to have to listen to one side or the other or the people in between. I don’t need to see hate posts about what this candidate said, or what this spokesperson said. I don’t need to see people posting clickbait stories based on false headlines, or yelling “fake news” because they disagree with CNN or Fox News. 

The media is as much to blame as anybody – and I say that as somebody who used to work in newspapers. We are in a society where people have limited attention spans and need something fast and furious. 

This seems like as good of a time as any to clean up my social media. As the season heats up, I’m going to use all those fun buttons. Unfollow. Unfriend and/or block (in extreme cases). Silence. All the stuff that makes it so I don’t need to see things. 

I looked through my Facebook list the other night. There’s a lot of people who I haven’t been in contact with for a long time. I looked at my Twitter and saw a lot of things where I wondered why I followed that account. Same with Instagram. 

And in the end, I wondered why I am letting a place where I want it to be enjoyable and relaxing to fire me up. 

The Twitterverse, especially, is beautiful to block. Facebook, too. If I see things that fire me up (even if not friends, rather shares and retweets), I can just block and not see anything from that person. 

My goal has been set. 

Purge 2020 is underway to save my social media and make it fun again. 

And yes, I’d rather those delicious posts about your meals. I actually do enjoy those posts!

Come November make sure you vote – no matter the side you choose. It’s your right to do so. 

In the end, though, whoever may read this post, I hope you make it through the summer months healthy and with less stress than most of us are feeling now. 

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!