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If you'll indulge me, a few personal thoughts on what covering and experiencing *gestures wildly in all directions* has been like. I hate self-indulgent things, but maybe you'll find this interesting or helpful or hopeful in some way. OK, here we go.
Necessary asterisk before we get started: This totally isn't meant so people can say "oh wow, good for him!" or anything like that. I'm healthy and I have a job, two things so many people can't say right now. So if I say anything that comes across the wrong way, I apologize.
So, before all this got started, I was covering high school sports. The girls basketball state finals were on Feb. 29, which seems like years ago. I loved every minute of it, we'd seen a ton of success with it, and I couldn't wait to do the same thing with softball.
I covered the B1G women's tourney, and things were starting to seem more serious. That was the week of March 4-8. I was actually supposed to leave the next week for a trip to Arizona to watch Spring Training with my dad. I told my parents on March 8 I wasn't comfortable going.
Things started ratcheting up the next week. I was in Bankers Life when the remainder of the Big Ten men's tournament was canceled. That was March 12, the last time I covered a sporting event. I don't need to recap all the stuff that got canceled, but it was...well, everything.
At this point, clearly the HS spring sports season was in doubt — which isn't great for a HS sports reporter. So when my boss told me I was going to be working on the news side for a while, I was thrilled. I was already getting to the point where I was bored Which brings us to...
As some of you may remember, I shared a bit of my mental health journey in a personal blog post in late December. I have depression and anxiety that manifest themselves in various ways, but when it can get worst is when I'm alone and bored. So the whole quarantining thing...yeah.
Hopefully you realize the importance of staying home by now, but it's especially important for me. I have cystic fibrosis, which is a lung disease. I'm very healthy, which is great! But the threat of a virus that attacks the lungs is...not great! For anyone. Especially me.
So, I quickly realized I wouldn't be leaving home for a while. I've made a few trips to drive-thrus, I've gotten groceries shipped, I've ordered way too much delivery food. And it'll probably be that way for a while. Because it's really really important for me.
From a mental standpoint, I'm doing surprisingly well. I've heard it said that people with anxiety handle crises better than most, because everything in their head is a crisis to some degree. Maybe true, maybe not. But as of now, I'm very much in a good head space.
A huge key to that has been work. I've always been a bit of a workaholic. It keeps me sane. So being able to stay busy working on stuff has been absolutely vital for me, and will continue to be. I've been able to work on new things and talk to new types of people.
Even something as simple as recapping the daily press conference with Gov. Holcomb and officials has been fascinating in a weird way. I'm curious and love learning new things. This whole thing is so terrible, but interesting in a morbid way, all at once.
In just the few weeks my job has shifted roles, I've gained so much appreciation for the work my colleagues do on a daily basis. Make no mistake, sports are important. And they matter. And I wouldn't trade it for anything. But this is on a whole new level.
And, as I've said in some other tweets, my appreciation for what health care workers are doing right now? Through the roof. I have a friend who is a nurse in Indy. Some of the stuff she's told me is crazy. The word "hero" gets thrown around a lot. These people? Heroes. Period.
I'm grateful for the opportunity to play a small role in informing people about what's going on right now. It's new, and sometimes scary, and I've made some mistakes. Made one today. Probably will make one tomorrow. But being a small piece of a big puzzle is so invigorating.
So, I'll leave you with this: Whatever you're doing, just do your best. That's all you can do. Whatever you need to do to get through the day, do that. Whatever your job is, whatever gets you up in the morning, be the best at that you can be. And if you fail, try again tomorrow.
Things are scary and crazy right now, and probably will be for a while. But whatever you're feeling, someone else is too. (I'll have more on this in a story soon, actually). But anyway. If you're still reading, thanks. Hopefully this has been helpful or insightful in some way.
Hopefully this thread helps to put a human perspective on whatever you're feeling right now. You don't have to have some crazy or extraordinary story to matter. What you're feeling and going through right now is entirely valid. Be kind to others. Be kind to yourself.
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