Skip to content

The eLPy Dimension

  • Home
  • About
  • All Things Bookish
    • 2019 TBR
    • Authors You Might Want to Give A Chance
    • Reviews
      • Review of “The Five Times I Met Myself” by James L. Rubart
  • Check These Folks Out!
  • In the Life of My Garden
  • Flash Fiction & Short Fiction

Mental Wellness and 71-Word Challenge

March 11, 2020 by eLPy

Hello everyone, how are you? I hope you and your loved ones are well and safe. Things are kind of scary right now for us all. My state just announced their first case of COVID-19 and it makes me want to bury my head in the sand. But freaking out isn’t going to do me any good. I think this is a good time to reach out (by phone or internet, not physically!) to people you know around the (your) nation and world, especially those in heavily affected areas, to see how they are. I did this the other night, messaging family members whose contacts I have. I know some people might think me awfully dramatic (guilty as charged) but my spirit compelled me! I have family in Washington and when I thought about them I wondered how they were, so I asked.

I think it’s especially important to reach out to the people you know who are at higher risk for contracting the virus as well as people you know who have mental illness. I suffer from anxiety and I have a particularly difficult time worrying about matters of health. Some people call me a hypochondriac. Based on the definition, “a person who is abnormally anxious about their health”, I most certainly am. I’m not proud of this fact and I know it’s irrational but when my mind gets to whirring those thoughts around about what these constant headaches, chest pains, sparkles in my vision are it is extremely difficult to just shut them off. My best bet is to ask myself some questions:

  • Is this an emergency, as in I need urgent care? If not then,
  • Is there anything I can and should do about this now? In other words, if my doctor’s office is open, can I schedule an appointment? If not, then calm down, leave it alone, call when you can.
  • Can I simply monitor this myself, thereby taking a strong stand as my own advocate?

If an appointment is necessary and scheduled, then I need to distract my thoughts away from the worry while I wait for my the day. This all seems pretty common sense but it can be really stressful. What’s my point? During this pandemic people like myself are probably experiencing even more than our usual every day anxiety. It wouldn’t hurt to check in with a text or e-mail or phone call and see how people are doing. I’m alright. I’m keeping myself up to date with the latest news. I’m washing my hands when available to me and using hand sanitizer or wipes when I can’t wash. I cancelled travel plans and plan to avoid people as best I can. This means my trip to the store yesterday afternoon will turn into late night or early morning trips to avoid large crowds, all the while being safe about my surroundings. I’ll gather some food supplies to avoid having to go out more and be prepared should I need to hunker down. I am not freaking out, I’m being cautious. Freaking out would disable me, making me more dysfunctional than not. I’ll also see what I can do to get another month of medications. I have extra pet food as well.

We all have to do what we can to stay healthy and keep those around us healthy. Not all my worries are irrational or extra but staying healthy means I also have to look out for my mental health. Keep exercising, continue yoga, and probably make some time to meditate or whatever to calm my mind. Let’s all make sure to remember it’s important we care for our mental health as well.

In case you’re wondering, and in case it would help to share, here’s an example of a mild hypochondriac panic attack:

Almost two weeks ago (maybe?) I was at a big box grocery store. It was really busy. We didn’t have any cases in my state yet so I was less nervous but still concerned. As I made my way to the dairy section to get some cottage cheese I noticed a woman cough into a tissue balled up in her hand (not covering her mouth with it or her hand, but balled up uselessly in the middle of her hand). She was with another woman by the yogurt. Instantly my heart rate increased. I thought oh my God why is she in the store! Okay, calm down, she might have allergies or some kind of breathing or lung matter. Maybe she’s not sick.

Regardless, I decided I’d leave my cart where I was at and quickly walk over to the cottage cheese, grab a container and hustle back to my cart. That’s what I did. Then as I turned around I saw them walking towards me. Heart rate, up, more. Oh God, oh God, oh God she’s coughing! Hold my breath, hold my breath. Do you know how difficult it is to hold your breath while you’re anxious? I went back to my cart holding my breath until I couldn’t and was far enough away to believe I was safe. But the fear did not leave me. The incident did not leave me.

I bought my groceries and left the store. I used my sanitizer then just sat in my car replaying the situation over and over. Little evil butterflies flew rampantly in my gut. I decided then that what I should have done was walked in the opposite direction and went all the way around the next aisle to get back to my cart. Over and over I thought this. I pictured myself doing it. I imagined how I wouldn’t have come close to them had I done that. I worried that I had made a critical mistake. Then I thought, no you just should have ditched the cottage cheese all together as soon as you saw that woman cough. She probably doesn’t have the coronavirus but what if! All the way home I thought about this. At home I thought about it. And still I remember it. That incident for me was distressing to say the least. Once it was over, I then also had to imagine what if I were to contract it and then visit my elderly aunt?

I’m sharing this to give you a snap shot. Like I said, I’m fine but having anxiety means I’m a greater risk to mishandle real fear and make things more difficult than I need to. So maybe see how the people you know are doing (not in person), you never know when your compassion could help ease another person’s soul.

With that I’m going to issue a 71-Word writing prompt challenge. The theme is looking passed fear.

via GIPHY

What should I do?

“You know what this means don’t you?”

I stared.

“Transformation. Metamorphosis. Change! You could be change.”

“But… what if -“

“You can’t hide forever. Your wings will show them there is hope in our future. When you finally fly you will be filled with their magic and it will fill your voice. Your voice must be heard.”

I flexed my double set of wings. They shivered. The thin butterfly wings changed colors.

via GIPHY

There you have it, my 71-word flash fiction piece. I encourage you to participate and try your hand at flash fiction, no more no less than 71 words. Post your story in the comments or a link to your page with your story. Please link back to me here. If you’re interested in my other flash fiction challenges as well as those I participated in over at Carrot Ranch, please follow the links below. Carrot Ranch Literary Community run by Charli Mills is who I have to thank for my doing these flash fiction challenges. I’m so grateful for the inspiration provided thanks to her 99-word challenges. This is a great thing for my writing practice.

  • 67-Word writing prompt
  • 60-Word writing prompt
  • 56-Word writing prompt
  • 47-Word writing prompt
  • 38-Word writing prompt

Carrot Ranch 99-word writing challenge:

  • Carrot Ranch Feb 20 Flash Fiction Challenge
  • 99-Word flash fiction prompt – 30 January
  • Flash Fiction Challenge from Carrot Ranch Literary Community

via GIPHY

Post navigation

Previous Post:

67-Word Writing Prompt

Next Post:

Carrot Ranch Flash Fiction Challenge – Tapping

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Quick Thought for the Day

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing — that’s why we recommend it daily.” –Zig Ziglar

Lately…

  • Here’s What’s Update Plus Shout Outs November 20, 2020
  • My Review of Rogue (Talon, #2) by Julie Kagawa October 17, 2020
  • What I’m Reading and Why October 10, 2020
  • Here’s What’s Up – Happy Friday! October 2, 2020
  • Here’s What’s Up this Week August 27, 2020

Recent Comments

  • Meg on Here’s What’s Update Plus Shout Outs
  • eLPy on Here’s What’s Update Plus Shout Outs
  • Meg on Here’s What’s Update Plus Shout Outs
  • eLPy on Here’s What’s Update Plus Shout Outs
  • Meg on Here’s What’s Update Plus Shout Outs

Top Posts & Pages

  • Here's What's Update Plus Shout Outs
  • My Review of Rogue (Talon, #2) by Julie Kagawa
  • What I'm Reading and Why
  • Here's What's Up - Happy Friday!
  • Here's What's Up this Week

Categories

What’s Been Happening

January 2021
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
« Nov    

Archives

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Blogroll

  • Documentation
  • Plugins
  • Suggest Ideas
  • Support Forum
  • Themes
  • WordPress Blog
  • WordPress Planet

Tags

5 star reads 2019 TBR All Souls Trilogy all things bookish audible audio books Binti book blogging Bookish book review book reviews Books Carrot Ranch Literary Community Deborah Harkness Fantasy fiction Flash Fiction Goodreads here's what's up Here's what's up book lovers Here's what's up with me Lady Trent mental health mishell baker Nnedi Okorafor Other blogs Reading Reviews Sarah Beth Durst Sci-fi series Shadow of Night Spring 2019 TBR Spring TBR TBR New Additions The Arcadia Project The Book of Phoenix The Deepest Blue The Honours The Voyage of the Basilisk Tim Clare updates writing Writing challenges writing prompt

Pages

  • About
  • All Things Bookish
    • 2019 TBR
    • Authors You Might Want to Give A Chance
    • Reviews
      • Review of “The Five Times I Met Myself” by James L. Rubart
      • The Arcadia Project Series (1-3) by Mishell Baker
  • Check These Folks Out!
  • Contact Me!
  • Flash Fiction & Short Fiction
  • In the Life of My Garden

Tags

5 star reads 2019 TBR All Souls Trilogy all things bookish audible audio books Binti book blogging Bookish book review book reviews Books Carrot Ranch Literary Community Deborah Harkness Fantasy fiction Flash Fiction Goodreads here's what's up Here's what's up book lovers Here's what's up with me Lady Trent mental health mishell baker Nnedi Okorafor Other blogs Reading Reviews Sarah Beth Durst Sci-fi series Shadow of Night Spring 2019 TBR Spring TBR TBR New Additions The Arcadia Project The Book of Phoenix The Deepest Blue The Honours The Voyage of the Basilisk Tim Clare updates writing Writing challenges writing prompt

Community

  • Ann Kidwell Author
  • poetryfest
  • elmoheyns
  • Mentally Ill In America
  • Christina Kyranis
  • Inga
  • Jordan Peters
  • The Anxiety Diva
  • Christine R
  • JF
  • Julia Peters
  • MentalHealthBlogger
  • bookwormbloggerweb
  • AthenaHernz
  • Sarah Ferguson and Choppy
  • mahe
  • mentalhealth360.uk
  • eLPy
  • photosociology
  • Alyssa
  • Joey
  • booksteabee
  • SilverWolfReads
  • Epic Empire
  • corekalamazoo
  • PhoebeMD: Medicine + Poetry
  • Crescents and coils
  • weewritinglassie
  • Susan Zutautas
  • iheart11
  • sallyb1990
  • Meg
  • fabricthatmademe
  • Rene Penn
  • ashleyleia
  • Art of Blogging
© 2021 The eLPy Dimension | Built using WordPress and SuperbThemes
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok