Writing With Coronavirus

Last week, Mary Gillgannon wrote about “Your Writing Home“—how some writers need a comfortable environment to help them focus on their writing, whether that’s a special place in their home or a coffee shop. I have a place like that, but I haven’t been able to use it for the past couple of months.

I was diagnosed with COVID-19 in early September. It wasn’t severe enough to require hospitalization, but it was like three weeks of the worst flu you could imagine, with an extra helping of worse. By early October, I was starting to feel better. Then the symptoms came back. Not as bad, and they only lasted about a week. But it left me in a state of almost total exhaustion. Taking a shower in the morning would wipe me out for the day.

I have a nice Writing Home. A spare bedroom fitted out with a computer, a bookshelf with all my writing books, even a single-cup coffee maker. And a window that if I lean all the way to the right, I can just see the mountains.

Here’s the problem. It’s on the second floor. For most of September and October I could barely make make it up and down the stairs, and I couldn’t manage that very often. Not that it was necessary. Along with the exhaustion, I was in a mental fog most of that time. I could hardly focus on anything for more than ten or fifteen minutes. Writing was impossible. I spent most of my time watching movies and doing crossword and sudoku puzzles to to try to keep my mind active.

I know that I’m fortunate. My symptoms were mild, and I’m recovering. I’m getting my energy back, and my focus is improving. I can read without losing track of the story again. I’ve started writing again—a couple of pages at time, but it’s a start. And I’ve made a couple of trips up to my Writing Home without needing to lie down afterward. I’m coming back, and I am very thankful for that.

There’s been some encouraging news in the past couple of weeks. Announcements of two covid vaccines that are more than 90% effective, that could start being deployed in December. Dr. Fauci thinks “the U.S. could start getting back to ‘relative normal’ by April or July of 2021.”

This year has been an unmitigated disaster. Sometimes it’s seemed impossible to have any hope. But 2020 is almost over. Next week while we’re being thankful for what we have, let’s also remember and honor those that we’ve lost through the pandemic and natural disasters. And have hope for recovery and a better world starting next year.

(Image by Peter H from Pixabay.)