Quarantine Bloglette: One Day at a Time. Baby

I believe living through this historical pandemic can make us individually stronger, depending on how we each decide to live it.

Strength can come from:

- realizing that for a single day I was productive. I kept myself occupied rather than settling on watching television or playing games.

- looking back on the day and knowing that I didn't spend time bemoaning my situation. I didn't whine or needlessly complain and bring anyone else down.

- grappling with the fact that today I melted down, whined, wasted time, ate poorly. I can handle this because I then determined to do better tomorrow.

- realizing that this is beyond me, I need help. To not ask for or accept help from others in times like this, is like not taking a pain reliever for a debilitating  headache. To accept help from others is to give them a chance to fulfill their needs, because there are many who need to assist. Collectively, we are stronger if we are strong as individuals.

- noticing that I helped someone today. Maybe it was easy; maybe I had to cast my own needs/desires aside for a short time, but I did it. It's also important to recognize that, by self-isolating and wearing a proper mask when we must go out, we are helping everyone.

Douglas finished reading A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles. He passed it to me, and today I read the first chapter. The main character, Count Rostov, is found guilty of being an aristocrat by the Bolshevik tribunal. The tribunal would have him shot, but senior party officials credit the count for his past contributions, so it is decided to put him under house arrest in the hotel where he's been living. He is escorted back to the hotel, removed from his suite and placed in a small, former servants quarters upstairs. He can take few of his possessions with him. He takes all his books. 

So, here sit Douglas and I, choosing self-isolation over potentially deadly coronavirus exposure. We have something in common with Count Rostov.

Count Rostov recalls a lesson he learned as a young man after his parents died. One must master one's own circumstances, lest they themselves are mastered by them.

This is one of the views from the Embassy compound. The open space is where people gather to play and barbecue. It's one of my favorite spots to run through. The building you can see is the Kudrinskaya Square Building. It is one of the Seven Sisters built in the Stalin years. Here's a link to see pictures of all these buildings: Seven Sisters