I don’t know about you, but I’m wrung out with pandemic fear and fatigue, terrified about the election, saturated with the news, and I dread the shorter days and impending cold. There is way too much to worry about. Having said that, I still fight the urge to doom scroll in spite of my better instincts. All of this 24/7 input just creates more anxiety which ends up as ruminating thoughts and questions swirling around in my head. What’s the future of our democracy? How do I stay safe and keep my family safe? What is this winter going to look like?

I need to take a deep breath and remind myself that writing helps. A lot. Putting pen to paper, transfers all of these pesky thoughts onto the page and provides some relief and a new perspective.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed with layers of fear and anxiety, and you need “get it all out,” try doing a worry purge:

Part #1 — First write a list of everything you are currently worried about. Dump all of your thoughts onto the page (in a column, going down the page). Don’t hold back. List everything you can think of and use as many pages as you need. When you’re finished, move to step #2:

Part #2 — Next to each, write one or two things you can do to minimize the perceived problem. If there’s nothing you can do, write, “it’s out of my hands” or “I can’t control this.”

When you’re done, close your eyes and take a deep breath. How do you feel?

While there is much we can’t control right now, there are things we can do to create some agency in our lives. Sometimes, it helps to get our thoughts onto paper to see what actions we can take—no matter how small—to make us feel better. It works for me.

Let me know if this helps! I’d love to hear from you.

I’m always on the lookout for new pieces to post. If you have an essay or poem on aging you'd like to share with others on the blog, click here for submission info. Since I also teach “Writing Through Grief” and “Writing as a Tool to Cope with Anxiety,” if you have a piece related to these topics, I’d love to read it. Anything you want to share about your pandemic experience is also welcome!