Twitter can be a scary place but I read a great thread the other day about why you might be more tired, or have trouble concentrating. Normally we use our pre-frontal cortex for things like reasoning, judgment and planning. It’s pretty hard to plan for the future when you’re under threat of a pandemic. So your brain is cycling a lot, trying to plan for an uncertain future. But also pandemic news can send you into tapping the older hind brain, the survival response of flight of fight. So there is this constant push and pull, which can be exhausting.
Science aside, I have observed that I often experience Smart Me, Stupid Me moments. Smart Me in March ordered some expensive bamboo toilet paper online because I figured there was a TP shortage and most people weren’t willing to spring for the fancy bamboo stuff. Even as I was placing the order in March, I thought, “Maybe I’m overreacting. This TP shortage is only temporary and eventually, the supply chain will be fine again.” Two weeks later, the bamboo toilet paper showed up and all I could think was, “Stupid! Why didn’t I buy more?” Of course, all fancy bamboo TP (domestic supply) was sold out for weeks. So today when I went to check and saw it was back in stock, I didn’t hesitate and one-click purchased that bamboo toilet paper!!!
Smart Me loves podcasts. Stupid Me forgot to listen to anything for weeks. So the other night I was walking the dog and listening to The Creative Penn, catching up on a month’s worth of podcasts when I hit this gem, “How to Stay Creative in Difficult Times (Lockdown Special)”. It helped me so much to listen to the host Joanna Penn discuss lack of productivity with the guest, Mark McGuinness. Basically, Joanna chalked up her lack of recent progress to DENIAL. She had a lovely routine previously, which involved walking to the cafe in Bath (she’s in England and Bath is utterly gorgeous), where she orders her favorite coffee beverage, puts on her headphones to listen to “thunderstorms” and starts her drafting work. That hasn’t been available to her for a month and she realized (and put into place) a new routine for working at home. That included even listening to a new music soundtrack! (She chose Game of Thrones, excellent choice).
I thought about how true that was for me as well, that so many of my prior routines are all gone. So a lot of the exhaustion may be stemming from reinventing the wheel every day as far as scheduling. Things that have worked – synchronized calls with my office at the same time 3 days a week. Walks with my dog at night. Many phone calls a week with my co-author Ken for brainstorming, world building, and editing. April 1st is also the time of year that I go dry. While some people do Dry January, I typically lay off the alcohol from April 1 through Oct. 31. Then any drinking would be the result of a special occasion, like my anniversary or a wedding.
Well, you better believe there was wine happening every night of the lockdown. I had blown past April 1 and never looked back.
Seedlip Mocktail
So I went dry on April 22. And my new routine is mocktails. I had often made them for my husband who cannot drink alcohol but had forgotten about making them for myself! Self-care now means I make them for me!
I use botanicals for my adult beverage – either Seedlip Distilled or RITUAL Whiskey Alternative. Also, a fancy ice-ball maker. Somehow the giant ice ball makes the drink feel extra special! In reality, bars use the giant ice cube or giant ice sphere because it melts slower so it should not water down your drink as much. I just think it gives the drink an aura of specialness, possibly because the ice ball maker only makes 1 single sphere. So the drink has to planned out in advance.
I prefer the Spice 94 flavor of Seedlip, and use lemons or limes from my garden. Here’s my very casual mocktail recipe:
- Place giant ice cube in cup (feel fancy)
- 2-3 oz – Spindrift Blackberry or use any sparkling water (I use flavored La Croix when I run out of Spindrift)
- 2-3 oz Seedlip Grove 94
- grate a little lemon zest in
- squeeze a dash of lemon juice and garnish with a slice.
- Garnish with whatever you like, mint leaves, a boozy bourbon cherry!
If you’re in the mood for a classic negroni however, please check out this video of Stan Tucci teaching us how to make a Negroni. I winced when he said not to use Martini & Rossi because of course I use Martini & Rossi–it’s a classic!
Lastly, in case you’ve ever wanted to know how to cut limes like a bartender – a tutorial here.