Somehow, it’s already July, after the longest/shortest three month period ever. With everything that’s happened and happening in the world, I just haven’t had the heart to write about…anything.
Briefest of updates: The March Housewife Experiment was largely successful. I stopped writing about it in the early coronavirus days, but I did keep it up in practice, for the most part.
I liked the routine, and I loved that my apartment was never dirty. Some of the regular cleaning was a bit much. I don’t know that I need to clean the top of the fridge every week, really. I also never fit every recommended task into a single week, but the attempt was satisfying.
As we head deeper into summer, I will likely lose whatever remained of my ambition. This is what happens when it gets really hot out, pandemic or no pandemic. I think reinstating those daily routines might be very helpful for staying functional. I’ll let you know.
Speaking of staying functional…it’s hard, right? I have absolutely fallen into the trap of constantly checking social media. This means I spend all day learning about new instances of people suffering and the triumphs of injustice. At best, I can channel this into action. At worst, I just stare, and scroll, and stare, and scroll, while feeling my blood pressure creep higher and higher. So I’m trying to find the balance between “informed” and “constantly incensed.”
One of the keys to that balance is the daily rituals and tasks of domesticity. Cooking meals, and making things, and getting dressed, and cleaning up…I suspect this is a large part of how humans across history have kept it together when everything falls apart.
In the past months, I avoided writing here because the stuff I cover seems so small in the face of the world in this moment. But it’s really not so inconsequential–it occupies much of our lives. Moreover, the “home stuff” is what keeps many of us going through the hard work of addressing the bigger picture. It’s not necessarily escapism, it might be that (ugh, buzzword) self-care we’re all trying to practice.
What’s keeping you grounded these days?