Good morning, friends! Here’s a little true story about me. (This tale happened to me: little ol’ me, Liza Achilles, not to be confused with the inquisitive one, who is an entirely different person!) Yesterday, I started to sink into a depression. It’s hard staying at home in self-isolation. It’s also hard working to recover from my arm and brain injuries. It’s a bit odd to have been just starting to come out of my concussion homeboundedness (I just made up that word; do you like it?), only to have to reenter the globally shared homeboundedness of coronavirus times.
It’s also a little weird because it reminds me of long childhood days when all I did was read, the whole day long. In a way, I feel like I’ve been preparing for this homeboundedness for months, and, as an introvert, years, and, as someone who grew up in an introverted family, basically my whole life.
But loneliness hurts, no matter how introverted you are. So, yesterday, I did some things that usually make me feel better when I’m depressed. I went on a run. I meditated. I texted with a loved one. But the texting wasn’t very extensive, because the last thing any depressed person wants to do is engage with another person. There’s the fear of bringing the other person down. There’s the fear of coming across as a weak disaster. There’s the sense that you won’t be able to engage with the person in the way that you would want to, were you feeling better.
But I had made a commitment to attend a digital video event, so that’s what I forced myself to do. And do you know what? It cheered me up. Like, big time! I felt like myself again, just engaging with other people (all complete strangers!) on a screen.
So, it’s like, “Doctor, heal thyself!” On Monday I wrote, on this blog, about how to combat loneliness and convert it into happiness, through understanding mammalian neurochemistry. Geez, of course! I need to engage with people digitally, every day, for 45 days. If I do this, hopefully the depression will slowly subside.
Therefore, in the spirit of digital connection, here are some ideas (along with gentle pleas . . . !) that I have for you. Please connect with others. Digitally. It really works. Thank goodness for the Internet! Please enjoy the following opportunities for connection. And take care of yourselves out there.
Hang Out With the Fabulous Strangers I Met Yesterday
Yesterday’s video event that cheered me up was part of the Fearless Chat Series, which is for people interested in building a website or digital brand. If you’re entrepreneurial minded or have a website, you may enjoy some of the events put on by Fearless Communicators.
They also have an event for everyone: The Big Gay Virtual Sing Along is just for fun! Why not do some singing and dancing, while home alone, along with lots of other people?!
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Join My Online Writing Group
A few months ago, I started a local chapter of Shut Up & Write!, which sponsors events for writers and anyone interested in writing. The group is small, since I just started it. I’m looking for new members! And since we’re now moving to online events, I invite you to join us, even if you don’t live in the DC area. We will get on a Zoom chat, share what we plan to work on, and then log off the video chat and write, on our own, for one hour. Then we will log back on to video chat and talk about writing or whatever we want. To hang out with us, join the Meetup group and RSVP here!
Like My New Facebook Page
Guess what? I have a brand new public Facebook page! Some of you may know all about it already. But if you haven’t gotten in on the action, please visit and Like my brand spanking new public Facebook page! (This is where the plea comes in….) PLEASE Like my page, if you are on Facebook!!!! But seriously, it’s awesome. Join us. I will be posting interesting things there that you won’t find anywhere else. . . .
Check Out My New YouTube Video and Channel
If you have not yet watched my first YouTube video, I invite you to check it out! You can find it on the Home page of my website, and also on my new YouTube Channel. (While you’re there, I invite you to Subscribe to the channel . . . PLEASE? . . .)
Find Likeminded People to Connect With Online
I have been connecting online with readers and writers and entrepreneurial types, since those are my interests. But you may have different interests. So seek out what’s happening on the Web, related to your interests, and join a group of strangers. Make some new friends. And have a great day: every day!
How do you plan to connect digitally, with friends or strangers, over the next week?
This post reminded me of a lesson I always forget. Not everyone is an extrovert.
As a married woman married to another extrovert, we gave barbeques for over 100 people for years. In my 50s I started only having holiday dinners for 25-30 people as I slowed down and my MS progressed. Now I do those dinners for fewer than a dozen .
My husband is from Colombia so we host relatives, often whole families, for visits. Sometimes now for weeks, for months in the past.
We were foster parents with official and unofficial kids always in the house, or ones who had come back during hard times.
Now at 67, I have slowed down more. I love company but it wears me out due to my MS. I am queen of short cuts. But people themselves energize me. The COVID crisis has been rough for that, so I appreciate this post particularly.
And how hard to have to be home after all your time being home already!
Thanks for writing a post to help all of us.
Hi Irene, this time must be especially hard for extroverts. Thanks for the heartfelt comment, and hang in there!
Today I’m going to a new yoga studio, virtually. I’m trying to use this time to investigate where I might find a new community for the after-COVID life. Thanks, Liza, for reminding me that even we introverts benefit from connection!
So glad you are able to do yoga remotely. And I’m glad you found this post helpful. Take care!!