walkbymyself wrote:

........But I think I should check in with everybody here more often!

 

I know exactly how you're feeling when you talk about logging on and feeling disheartened & angry. A couple of times I've felt the same but also feeling "it's not fair! that I've only got an overseas website of straightspouses to pour my heart out to, nobody closer..." But I'm philosophical about my journey through this and as this IS my only outlet it doesn't take me long for my irritation to turn into appreciation. 

Wow...you moved across country to an apartment in NY? Sounds like a movie and that after being dropped from a great Straightspouse height....like a cat you've managed to fall on your feet. An apartment of your own! With social distancing you you can still walk and find somebody to strike up a conversation with? (but I'm thinking it may be difficult to do this in NY maybe)
See.....there is something in everyone's story to be envious of. If there was an apartment I could escape to......

We're glad you've checked in 
 

People here are a lot friendlier than you might realize, and that's often most clear in a crisis when people really come together.  I've found it's helpful to me to be the person who helps other people -- like for example, the other day an elderly woman with some kind of foreign accent walked up to me and asked me whether we were required to wear masks, and asked me to show her how to put it on (she had a package of them).  She started talking and it was clear she really needed another human to listen and empathize, so I ended up talking and mostly listening for a while, but telling her we're all in this together, and she can leave her apartment now as long as she maintains a safe distance and wears the mask.  As we parted, I reached out and patted her shoulder.  Those are the kind of interactions that make it all bearable.  It's like I can't do anything to help myself, but every now and then there's a way to help someone else instead.

I'm a little lost at the moment because as long as the restrictions were in place, I didn't have to deal with the fact that I need to find a place to meet people and make friends.  I'm glad to see the restrictions lifting, but at the same time it reminds me that I need to move my life forward a little bit.