Covid 19 | Uniquely Yours Craft Journal

Dear Fellow Journalers,

During the Civil War, some soldiers were issued journals and asked to document their war-time experiences. The soldiers were from Wisconsin. Some of the journals survived and can be viewed at the Wisconsin Historical Society which was founded in 1846.

The Society has been chronicling crisis situations beginning in 1830 with the outbreak of malaria at Fort Crawford, the Spanish Flu in 1918 and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s.

One of those who wrote of his experiences was a Col. Rufas Dawes of Mauson WI. He used his journals to not only document his emotions but also to recount battles. He kept a tally of the dead and wounded. One such heart-breaking account reads :”Corporal James Kelly of Company B shot through the heart and mortally wounded.He asked me to tell his parents he died a soldier.”

Based on these letters, the society launched the COVID -19 Journal Project designed so that future generations would better understand the virus effects on every day life.

While COVID -19 is not as violent as the Civil War, it is deadly and has turned our lives upside down. So many things are different now. So many restrictions.

Write your Story for your future self or your grandchildren. Let them know how you coped. Open your journal now!

~Sallie

Writing in the midst of Covid19

05 Aug 2020 Comments Off

Dear Felllow Journalers,

It’s been a long time since I’ve written anything about mindfulness. Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about ways to cope with all the negative feelings I’ve been having. As this forced isolation goes on, and some areas reopen, we all hold our collective breath and hope that life will go back to normal. There are so many things that try to drive us down. Death and fear, loneliness and isolation, lack of food and jobs, anger and violence. We wonder if the world is coming to an end. We loose hope. We think that there are no longer any good people in the world.

We all try and find new ways to cope. It’s to hot to craft so I write stories. A friend of mine tries out new recipes, a neighbor makes scrapbooks, in short, we all try to forget. Some of us, those not working, spend a lot more time watching tv.

So, this month, I thought I’d go back to my roots. More ideas about getting ourselves to hope, to love, to join the human race- to fight stress, to listen to music and to find ourselves, our best selves.

The video below is a good start:

~Sallie