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Some people have reported that their dreams have gotten more vivid, or that they’ve had an unusually strong sense of God, or felt the presence or heard the voice of departed loved ones—has anything like that happened to you? If it has, tell us about it.
My dreams are often drawn and look real. The people and places remain actual but I see them as drawn by hand.Yesterday, on a facetime birthday (7th) call to CA from CT our granddaughter used some odd app - and she became a black and white drawing of herself - so now my dream seems closer to reality. I am dreaming of crossing a frozen lake (like the oil painting I created after walking across Lake Candlewood) on a bitterly cold day with my husband. I completed this R/T once - vowing never again - and we were fine. In my dream I must once again cross the frozen lake but I am afraid that due to climate change I will break through and die. I feel death is close - not a distant & abstract concept any longer - I must wear a mask in my dream and no virus is lurking on the other side of the lake. I will contract covid only if I remain on this side of the lake. I must cross. I wear my Star of David around my neck and hold hands with my husband. We begin to walk on the ice. Crack crack crack !! Tree stumps stick up, all are dead. This lake is manmade & originally flooded rolling farmland. Crack crack crack! I want to turn back but fear covid. Suddenly my feet slip beneath me as the ice opens in a wide gap. I reach for my husband and we look at each other closely. It is the same glance as the moment several winters ago when at 2 AM, 10th floor of Marriott, Anchorage Alaska a 7.1 earthquake shook our room violently, the hotel was like a ship tossed in violent waves. Miraculously we felt secure simply because we were with one another. CRACK CRACK CRACK I wake up and reach across our bed for my husband’s hand.
October 29, 2020
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Many of us have experienced restrictions on movement and social contact during the pandemic. Talk about any restrictions that have especially affected you.
I think the most obvious and impactful restriction so far is the stay at home orders that we faced at the beginning and height of the pandemic, which we are facing again now. Living in NYC, I thrived on the freedom to walk out of my apartment and go do whatever I wanted.... and sometimes that included doing absolutely nothing, just walking aimlessly around my neighborhood or on the high line. The biggest impact of social distancing is not being able to go out and do nothing for fear of the risk that it could lead to potential exposure. Before I moved back into my college dorm, I felt like back in the city everything I was doing had to have a purpose. Every small errand turned into a journey that I would have to plan for hours in advance. At the height of the pandemic planning on my visit to trader joe's took longer than the actual shopping itself. The next big factor is the lack of social contact. Ever since being a child, I have thrived on being in social settings and making people laugh, sharing interesting stories from around the world, and just being able to talk. With social distancing measures in place, I feel as though there is a piece of semi-opaque glass between me and the outside world. While I may still be able to express myself and behave the same way, the message does not hold the same weight as there exists bigger fish to fry. Covid happened to coincide with other big life changes I decided to make and in all honesty, I think I would be a different person sitting here today writing this pandemic journal entry if one of the many moving parts in my life was a few months off schedule. To that point, I know that the part I play in trying to end this pandemic is something I have been taking serious by staying socially distant, constantly wearing masks, and volunteering at a local hospital hit hard by the pandemic, and the rest is not in my hands. At times it is frustrating seeing my sacrifices being pushed under the rug or cancelled out by the ignorance of others.
February 15, 2021