Now they are saying people should wear masks after all. Experts tell White House that coronavirus can spread from talking and even just breathing.
When I was a little girl of nine, I read a newspaper story on spreading germs when you cough and sneeze, which I cut out and took to school for show and tell. At the time I recall a sneeze could travel 24 feet in all directions, and a cough a little less. But it was much further than the 6 feet social distancing they advocate now. It never felt right to me when they said that masks don't help.
@spacegal2374, I see that this is your first post, and welcome you to our community. I am very happy that you have joined us, and hope you find a home here. Please continue to post whenever you need or want to share.
I am so sorry to hear of the recent loss of your husband. I am also sorry that you're forced to deal with the stress of this pandemic while working with the general public, and keeping yourself and your children safe and secure. That's an awful lot on your plate.
I am a senior with health issues so I haven't been out much the past few weeks, except to our local grocery store. I have heard that some essential retail businesses are better than others with handling the pandemic. Two of our local grocery stores in Northern Virginia have been very responsible to their employees and patrons, but the third, not so much. Are you able to protect yourself at work, i.e. wear a mask, gloves, etc.?
This pandemic will eventually end. I do understand my words offer little comfort when you're thrust in the middle of it and can't predict when that ending might be. The fear of the unknown and the stress can feel enormous. In whatever way you can, please take care of yourself. Do you have any regular practice of self-care, e.g. meditation, etc.? Jeanne has a wonderful loving-kindness meditation that you can access on her site. We also have weekly Circle of Light Healing meditations on Wednesdays at 8:30 pm. You can access that information under "Upcoming Events.”
These dark days will end, @spacegal2374. Take it one day at a time. I am sending you comfort, strength and protective light to get through this difficult period.
I will keep you and your children in my meditations and prayers. Much love to you.
Welcome to our community. You will find a lot of very supportive and caring people here, I am so glad you joined us. @Deetoo offered some great advice and ideas of things that can be found on the website. I appreciate people like you who have "essential" jobs and are working in hazardous conditions. It is even trickier to deal with the loss of a spouse and caring for children . SO much is on your shoulders, I wish we could lift some off for you. We might be able to ease your spirit a bit though. I second doing Jeanne's meditation (link found on her main page) and also encourage you to join our Zoom meditation on Wednesdays. IF yo sign up you will get a link for all the upcoming weeks.
Try to walk in nature or get outdoors even to walk around the block. Take your children if they are under your roof with you. I feel that your are being watched over and are not alone. It is important that you know that. You are not alone.
@jessi1978. My daughter is planning to make masks. Is there a pattern you have tried that you would recommend?
Hi @jeanne-mayell. I think originally they said masks wouldn't help as self protection, mostly because they do nothing to protect from infection through the eyes, among other things. However, masks are useful in keeping someone infected from spreading it to others. I think they are changing the recommendation because there's evidence now that asymptomatic individuals are spreading it without knowing.
@deetoo Thanks. I’ve frequently read the predictions that have been made on the world predictions page. I honestly hope the pandemic ends soon! I meditate every now and then and I do have some self care practices. I write in a journal as much as I can.
@lovendures Thank you. Yes my children live with me. I have a 9 year old and a 7 year old. My work schedule varies so I doubt I could join the zoom meditation and will try the other one you recommended. My late husband had something in the works with a friend of his and the launch got postponed again as the facilities making the shirts and stuff are focused on medical supplies right now instead. I will be able to quit my job in retail once this endeavor takes off I just don’t know how much longer I can deal with my job.
https://www.joann.com/make-to-give-response/?icn=hpzhero&ici=make-to-give-response
This is the Facebook link for the project just keep scrolling down and you will see the link for the patterns.
If anyone is looking to make mask you can buy materials at Joann and to do curbside pickups. Make sure you use tight woven fabric. Joann have videos online to for the patterns.
Crafts and fabric stores are not considered essential in most states that have shelter in place and should not even be open*. Use a cotton bandana, line it with a coffee filter or hepa filter material pinned inside the fold. Not all of us have sewing skills anyway.
*Today police in several states (WI,CO) had to go shut down Hobby Lobby stores because they are flouting the rules.
I live on Long Island and they are open but not to go and shop at. You can go online and order and they have your order ready for pick up or you can have it delivered. I guess NY is letting them be open for now.
You can get Hepa filter or Hepa vacuum bags to use in the mask
The reason they're now suggesting to wear the masks is to protect you from someone sneezing or coughing while in line or in crowded stores. it's the droplets from your sneeze/cough that would land on you if standing nearby. especially for those that are elderly and or have compromised auto immune system. where I live in California is actually doing better than most states. we have this thing contained as well as state of Washington. We have good governors that know what they're doing. not sitting around waiting on Trump like DeSantis is.
don't forget to say thank you to all the workers in grocery stores, post office, gas station pumps, even at your local hardware stores. Including all medical workers. these people are putting themselves on the line everyday.
Hobby Lobby, Michaels, and Joanne's art's and crafts are not essential businesses. there are many who choose to defy the orders so much because it hurts their bottom line. the buck stops there.
@lovendures I listened to Jeanne’s 10 minute guided meditation tonight and I was fin during the first part and started crying when she says to think of someone else who can use the affirmations. I don’t know if that’s a normal response or not but I definitely feel lighter now if that makes any sense. Thanks so much! Blessed Be
I think your response is actually understandable and normal, especially during this time. I don't know who you were thinking of, but perhaps you are concerned about family members right now or perhaps you were thinking of your late husband. There is no reason he can't be the focus of your energy if yo feel you want to include him. I am really glad you feel lighter. I know that meditation has helped me greatly when I have needed it.
Your children are wonderful ages! There are many activities we have listed they can do online during the pandemic if you need some suggestions. I think most are in the points of light section. Zoos and museums have some wonderful things going on to learn and explore.
Again, welcome!
I had a strange dream this morning about the virus and Trump. In the dream I am in a work setting and I am refilling toilet paper in some of the bathrooms because they were low. I find a huge scary spider on top of a roll of toilet paper. I trap it into a container where it thrashes its mouth a lot as if to try to bite me. Trump hears I caught it comes over to me and asks me to save it for him--he wants to keep it in a terrarium as a pet. I start to find a terrarium for the grotesque spider, with all the spider would need to stay happy inside it. When I say grotesque spider I mean like worse than horror movie grotesque--very CGI scary...it's teeth were very bad...
In the dream I come up to Trump with the horrible thing in it's new home which is a large glass terrarium and as I hand it to Trump it is as if I could suddenly read his thoughts. He was thinking he might have an enemy or enemies he would like to save it for... I woke up and thought it was obvious based on another dream that the spider is representing the coronavirus. In the other previous dream spider eggs were shown as outbreaks of the coronavirus. I was shown many, many new areas with many spider eggs. Each egg had a tiny fully formed spider inside ready to hatch. I didn't think it gave any new information so I didn't post it here, everyone knows this is happening now. In that dream I would watch an invisible hand try to sweep the eggs away, only to find more every time I walked forward...
Since I am refilling toilet paper it suggest to me a time when there is plenty of toilet paper. Or the toilet paper is only a reference to the time of the pandemic, when suddenly having toilet paper seems so important.
Although I am not sure the full meaning of this dream, I am posting it to see if I get any insights. Trump is a germaphobe according to sources, yet shook everyones's hands to show he isn't afraid to do that. I guess the appearance of being unafraid matters to him a lot. (Remember him staring at the sun during the eclipse? Did he want to appear unafraid or somehow immune to the damage? Now he wants to appear immune to the virus? Or is he just stupid...)
Maybe the dream is just suggesting he is always looking for revenge on others. He can't literally use the virus as a weapon for personal use, can he?
Another material that you can use for masks that should be readily available is furnace air filters. If you get the hepa filters and remove from the cardboard, they make good mask liners and protect much more than straight fabric.
Maybe the dream is just suggesting he is always looking for revenge on others. He can't literally use the virus as a weapon for personal use, can he?
No, he cannot use the virus as a weapon. He's not a genius super-villain. And now that the White House is down to the dregs of his spineless sycophants, he can't call on any of his allies for real help. He's a frightened little boy who has as much control of the pandemic as any other schmuck on the street. He tells himself the pandemic can be used to his advantage, but this is just the desperate delusion (and final undoing) of a malignant narcissist.
@mas1581, regarding using HEPA furnace filters to use inside the masks -- do you know whether those filters can just be cut up and inserted into the pocket, or do they need to cut into squares, pleated, and sewn along the edges? I saw a good illustration of the latter in a youtube video, but since I don't own a sewing machine, I'd like a simple solution. Thanks.
you can cut it up and sew it to the inside of the mask. I can’t sew either but I added to the inside of the mask. I use the filtrete 1900