Dorothy, you're tuned into the grim reality of this holiday season. A lot of people can get sick and spread COVID, and make a lot of other people even sicker. We're all isolated and having a physical response to the emotional turmoil. I'm to the point where I'm going to write some journal entries as if I'm talking with the woman who I've seen as a counselor (on occasion) for the last few years. She has health issues (Lupus) so is probably talking to her clients via video calls about now, and I'll set up some sessions through university EAP (I can still use it as a retiree). But for the time being, I have always found it helpful to think about what I would say if the counselor is here right now, or about what I'll say in an appointment this week. Saying what is the problem, acknowledging the depression, is helpful.

Also, there really is something to the saying that having a good friend to talk to about things is as helpful as having a therapist. I'm thinking it's time to call an old friend out in California, who, every time we talk, it's like the conversation picks up from the last moment we talked. Nurture those relationships and help both of you feel better.

I'm pleased to read that R is working on small projects. I have some of those to do here, and they help me feel better. I've been fixing things around here lately for just that reason (and trying to remember to look at the To-Do list I posted for myself in the kitchen.)

What can we each do to help someone else feel better, and what can each of us do to help ourselves feel better? I had a conversation today with a woman who has a knack for delivering zingers that hurt. And if I were to share her "advice," it would hurt someone else as well. She's retiring at the end of the year, I won't see her after Thursday. And after that I'll consider how to neutralize her venom. (Hence the journal entry to my absent counselor, who I know would have questions that would help me sort it out. What questions would she ask? I'll consider it and answer them. It helps already that I've worked out a way to deflect the harm that individual was trying to do.)