Loads of Distractions
A basket of puppies to apply medicinally as needed
In the past 72 hours the best way I’ve had to shake off my anxiety is to pick up a book that’s coming out in June called The Chicken Sisters, by my pal KJ Dell’Antonia. Sure, I’m triangulating travel for the youngest college kid, worrying about the ban on visitors at my mom’s Assisted Living place, and watching all the concerts I was looking forward to get cancelled one by one, but for whole fifteen minute chunks at time I get lost inside the fictional drama of which sister’s restaurant was going to win $100,000 from the Food Wars reality show for serving the best fried chicken. (You should pre-order the book at your local indie bookstore now – call them up and check how they’re doing! And in June when the world is back to normal, you’ll have a great read all lined up.)
The point is, I very much needed the distraction. And I bet you could use some too. So I’ve lined up bunch of things to get you to STOP scrolling social media for ten seconds and allow you to take a couple of deep breaths and allow your brain to turn off the Worry/Repeat/Worry/Repeat cycle.
Listen to Podcasts!
Think of this as a time to binge shows you may not have had time to listen to in the past! To that end, I asked some great podcast creators to suggest a “flight” of shows to get you hooked.
On giving yourself permission to be happy
A conversation on racism, colorism, interracial relationships, immigration and more
Calm in the time of coronavirus
For super fun celebrity ear candy
For creating more positivity in your life to help you reach your goals
For laughing until you cry
Prioritizing romance **indoor fun LOL
How to increase your election impact when you’re exhausted
Home hustle tactics
The Life-Changing Magic of Opting Out
“Mommy Needs Wine” & Other Problematic Mom-Tropes
Parenting “Fair” vs. Parenting To The Child
Single Mom Dating: The Hilarious, the Horrible, the Heartbreaking
Everything I Lost in the Gulf of Divorce
Entrepreneurship as a Single Mom
#AmWriting with Jess and KJ – use some of this unplanned at-home time to finally write that book!
The Full Proposal
Novel Preparations
First Timer Mistakes
And of course Midlife Mixtape
Ballerina Aesha Ash
NPR Music Critic Ann Powers
Happiness Curve Author Jonathan Rauch
Plus, a grab bag of my favorite episodes of some of my favorite podcasts:
Lore: First Impressions (omg I once was late to a high school PTA meeting because I was driving in loops around the high school listening to the end of this saying, “What WHAT WHHHHAAAAATTTTT?”)
Song Exploder: Semisonic’s Closing Time (this song that we all know is NOT what you think it’s about)
Mobituaries with Mo Rocca: Chang and Eng, A Messy American Dream (you’ll end up Googling for days afterward)
Read books!
I feel SO badly for authors whose books are coming out in March and April 2020 – with readings and events and lit conferences getting cancelled left and right it’s going to be extra hard for them to get traction. Glennon Doyle has a wonderful thread over on Twitter inviting authors publishing right now to share their work so the rest of us can order (online or, again, call your indie bookstore and ask them to get it for you!)
Feeling for all the authors launching books this week…. we try to plan for everything but a global pandemic is a toughie. Post your books here. I’m ordering all of them. All. We’ll get through this together. Respect and Love.
— Glennon Doyle (@GlennonDoyle) March 12, 2020
And here’s a list of March and April titles from a FB writer’s group I’m in – if any of these appeal to you, it would be a great time to snap them up! (I’m grabbing the Beth Lisick title, I adore her.)
MARCH
Silverman, Sue William ~ HOW TO SURVIVE DEATH AND OTHER INCONVENIENCES, memoir-in-essays, University of Nebraska Press, March, 1, 2020.
Knox, Jen. RESOLUTIONS (novel in stories), AUXmedia, March 3, 2020.
Lee, DJ. REMOTE: FINDING HOME IN THE BITTERROOTS. Oregon State Univ. Press. March 3, 2020.
Chow, Jennifer J. MIMI LEE GETS A CLUE (cozy mystery), Berkley/Penguin Random House, March 10, 2020.
Goenawan, Clarissa. THE PERFECT WORLD OF MIWAKO SUMIDA (novel) Soho Press. March 10, 2020.
Bartz, Andrea. THE HERD (thriller) Ballantine, March 24, 2020.
Winn, Rebecca. One Hundred Daffodils: Finding Beauty, Grace, and Meaning When Things Fall Apart (literary nonfiction/memoir in essays), Grand Central Publishing/Hachette Book Group, March 24, 2020.
Lisick, Beth. EDIE ON THE GREEN SCREEN (novel) 7.13 Books, March 26, 2020.
Skillicorn, Jodie. HEALING DEPRESSION WITHOUT MEDICATIONS: A PSYCHIATRIST”S GUIDE TO BALANCING MIND, BODY & SOUL. North Atlantic Publishing. March 17, 2020
Kadetsky, Elizabeth. THE MEMORY EATERS (winner of the 2019 Juniper Prize in Creative Nonfiction/lyric memoir in essays). University of Massachusetts Press. March 31, 2020
APRIL
Hammer, Alison. YOU AND ME AND US (upmarket women’s fiction) William Morrow (HarperCollins), April 7, 2020
McConnell, Ruby. A GIRL’S GUIDE TO THE WILD NATURE JOURNAL AND ACTIVITY BOOK (middlegrade) Sasquatch Books, April 9, 2020
Klein, Amy. THE TRYING GAME: GET THROUGH FERTILITY TREATMENT AND GET PREGNANT WITHOUT LOSING YOUR MIND (nonfiction) Ballantine (Penguin/Random House) April 7, 2020
Meeropol, Ellen. HER SISTER’S TATTOO (fiction) Red Hen Press, April 7, 2020
Lewinson, Ann. STILL LIFE WITH MEREDITH (novella) Outpost19, April 7, 2020
Frier, Sarah. NO FILTER: THE INSIDE STORY OF INSTAGRAM (nonfiction) Simon & Schuster, April 14, 2020
McConnell, Ruby. GROUND TRUTH: A GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF A LIFE (nonfiction) Overcup Press, April 19, 2020
Volz, Alia. HOME BAKED: MY MOM, MARIJUANA, AND THE STONING OF SAN FRANCISCO (nonfiction) Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, April 20, 2020.
Sligar, Sara. TAKE ME APART (fiction/suspense). MCD / FSG, April 28, 2020.
Dolson, Nikki. LOVE & OTHER CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR (short stories), Bronzeville Books, April 2020.
Do Things Outside
Seriously. Go outside. As long as you keep your 6-feet distance, you can walk with friends and catch each other up on what’s happening under your roof. Your body needs the exercise and your brain needs the break and your heart needs the support. Even if it’s raining, try to get outside.
I’m debating throwing a “Social Distancing Cocktail Hour” next week in my neighborhood, where we all bring our own beverages and stand six feet apart in the road and shout encouragement at each other. The kids can zoom around on their bikes and scooters while we block traffic. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Be a Helper
If you’re healthy, ask a neighbor who might be older or have compromised health what they need from the grocery store or pharmacy. Maybe rake their lawn or shovel their snow or whatever is needed in your particular climate that shows them they’re not forgotten and gives you something to do besides refresh the CDC website. True story: I asked my 70-something nextdoor neighbor what I could grab her at the grocery store yesterday and she answered, “Lay’s Potato Chips.” I needed that.
Call an older person you know and say hi and listen to them. They’re scared right now by the news (and if they aren’t, they’re probably watching the wrong channel) but it sure helps to know someone is thinking of you.
Keep Feeling Around for Gratitude
Hard as hell this week. I know it. But I type these sentences as I sit in a warm house with a stocked pantry and 75% of my family at home, rising to 100% by 8 pm tonight. That’s already a ton to be thankful for. (Obligatory mention – here’s a link to the book I wrote about gratitude in case you want to read or listen to it in days ahead.)
Maybe there’s a warm dog at your feet as you’re reading this, or you have a good show to watch later, or one of the aforementioned books is calling your name. There are still chocolate chip cookies and footrubs and here in NorCal, the trees are blossoming in a way that makes it impossible not to smile for at least a sec. However bad it is, look around you for something, someone good.
I’m right there with you, ok? None of us is alone. And all of this is temporary.
Xoxo
Nan
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