Pen and Moon

musings, life lessons & poetry from Theresa Jarosz Alberti

Tag: pandemic

One Year.

March 16, 2021 / / 2 Comments

I started my quarantine one year ago today.

Bob and I had spent the weekend in an AirBnB near Eau Claire, Wisconsin, having a writing retreat with our writing buddy and her partner. It was a good time, fun and creative, working on our writing by day and going out to eat at night. The University of Minnesota had started shutting down to in-person classes a few days before, and the virus was becoming a reality.

But no one was sure of everything yet, so we ate in busy restaurants, just starting to feel a little creeped out but unsure of what we needed to do. By the time we got home, we knew the lockdown was on. Continue reading

Me and Loki

Mirror Cats!

November 14, 2020 / / 4 Comments

And now for some lighter fare…

I’ve had my two silly cats for a long time now. Black cat Jinx is 14, and white-and-gray Loki is 10. It’s only been in the last few months that I’ve noticed a strange behavior they both exhibit. Maybe it started after the pandemic, when I started to give them each half a can of wet cat food* every morning, to supplement their prescription dry food. They LOVE the wet food (not a surprise to cat owners!) and eagerly and loudly meow for it every morning.

[*Note: Jinx will gobble up almost anything. Loki is the prima donna who will only eat Fancy Feast flaked– not pate or gravy. He would rather starve.]

I started noticing that the two cats would align themselves to each other as they eat– parallel or mirroring each other. It was so odd, and happens every morning. I started taking photos on different days.

Continue reading

What I Want to Tell You…

November 2, 2020 / / 6 Comments

Hi friends, I want to talk to you today about mental health and self-care. We are going into a really stressful week right now. Coronavirus cases and deaths are climbing, and tension around this election has been building for months and months. There’s a lot to be anxious about!

Today is a good time to think about how we can get through this week in a way that lowers our stress and is kind to ourselves. I’m talking to myself here, as well as all of you. What kind of self-care can I do to help myself this week? Continue reading

Self-Compassion in the Time of Corona

March 26, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Yesterday was not a great day.

I had hopes about things I wanted to do, to focus on. With this Global Pandemic and #StayAtHome, it seems like I have this endless blank-canvas of a day to do things, to be productive, to march forward on my goals. Sometimes I have a little luck with this, but often I’ve been finding myself getting lost in eddies of anxiety and distractions, and the day is suddenly gone. Yesterday, I listened to the news too much, which only ups my stress. Or I abruptly interrupted whatever I was trying to do by scrolling on social media— looking for… Something. I read more upsetting articles on Twitter. I watched Instagram stories flutter by in the stream. I didn’t exercise or write or make art, some of the things on my list, things that usually make me feel better.

How about you? Does any of this sound familiar? Continue reading

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