Quarantine life in ATL

What I've accomplished while sheltering in place since March, and, the bigger picture.

Other then moving to Atlanta from L.A., I didn't get to do all that much before the pandemic hit. We got the apartment furnished, had a few people over, I was interviewing for jobs, saw/did some sites that newly minted Atlanta-ians would do, then boom - Kobe dies in a fiery plane crash, and bonus, #hideyourwifehideyourkids cuz 'Rona is effing the world up until deadline TBA.

I was convinced it would fizzle out by June. But it didn't, and hasn't. Like many people, you kind of sit back and take inventory after awhile. On everything.

It's easy to get bogged down by all the bad stuff so I tried to kick up a glass-half-full mindset. With that, I began to reflect on what I've done, not what I can't or couldn't do. I'll admit, it takes work to consistently stay in this mindset but the rewards are better than the other rabbit hole, lol.

Accomplishments since March 2020

Sometimes it's empowering just to see it all written out. To date, I have:

- read the entire NLT bible (Genesis to Jude....still holding off on Revelation #ifUknowUknow)

- Got an Audible membership (finished 4 "books", bouncing around on 2 others)

- designed 3 swimsuits from scratch (sketched the drawings, sent them to a designer/seamstress...final product pending!)

- put more effort into my 3 online shops

- started embracing "baths" (I always felt like you're just stewing in your own filth, I dunno)

- actually let my toe nails breathe (yep, no polish since March just Vitamin E oil)

- a lot of organizing, spring/summer cleaning

- a lot of sitting on the balcony reading, praying, listening to the birds in the A.M, the cicadas in the P.M, & tree leaves blowing in the wind in between. Just BEING.

- helped hubby execute some of his entrepreneurial efforts

- did an Advanced 30 day elimination diet to intro into an AIP style diet for 3 months

- got a Parsley Health membership

- started this blog!

...and then obvious stuff like having the space, time, and quiet to get better perspective on what's truly important/should be prioritized for me personally. Living in L.A. or other big cities, you get so use to being in a state of constant production. Everything you do, say, think has and must produce something or get you to some kind of next level. It's sick and a sickness. That state of being contributed to the development of my autoimmune condition.

Known as the Izabella Wentz Safety Theory....."(based on adaptive physiology) suggests humans developed chronic illness to adjust to our environment and that illness once served a protective role in the survival of our species but became maladaptive in modern times.

In cave times, our bodies adapted to intercept environmental threats as a signal that the world was a dangerous place, that it was not the best time to be adventurous or fertile, and that we needed to conserve resources. In a way, (certain) resultant autoimmune conditions may have evolved as an adaptive mechanism to help humans conserve resources and survive in times of famine, invasion, cold weather, or disease outbreak, as the condition put them in a quasi-hibernation mode so they were more likely to retreat to their caves, survive on fewer calories, and conserve energy by sleeping more.

In modern times, nutrient depletions, inflammatory foods, stress (unhealthy environments), toxins, gut impermeability, and underlying infections can set off the same danger signal to our body and trigger the autoimmune cascade. How can we override this signal? In simple terms, we must eliminate the things that make the immune system believe that we are in danger and that we need to conserve energy/resources. This theory is the guiding principle...(to)work to send safety signals to your body by eliminating perceived threats".

Bottomline: If you are in a constant state of fear, anxiety, stress, confusion, for whatever reason, find a way to cut the fat ( i.e. any relevant person/place/thing ) sooner than later or potentially reap the hell that is autoimmune disease or other chronic illness. How many times have you heard "change is good" or "change is necessary"? It's legitimately both. COVID for example is more than a disease. It's a symptom, it's a sign, it's change happening to us and maybe even for us.

Your body and mind are temples that need to be treated as sacred as God designed them. Deep down you already know the answer, what you need to change, what the next move is, what needs to be cut out, what needs to be added in. Honor that. I can't think of a better time to do it.

Here's hoping your quarantine accomplishments/to-do list grows and transforms into something more powerful altogether. #takecare