Devon Shanor | Blog

Tag: covid19

  • It’s Okay To Be Mad Sometimes|Creative Chaos

    It’s been a rough time with the world as it is. COVID19 and everything that you see in the news. I personally have been having a hard time with this. I dealt with postpartum depression/anxiety with both of my boys and didn’t realize that’s what it was until well after Andrew (my youngest) was born. I saw a therapist and finally…. FINALLY… got out of the funk that I had become accustomed to as my norm. Well now there is a new norm in the world, and I was MAD. I was mad that all of the things I’d lost interest in, namely getting out of the house… was not a part of this “new norm”. For a while I was just cranky and kept saying that I would come up with creative ways to keep my kids entertained. It’s more than just entertainment at this point, we’ve been at this COVID mess for almost 6 months with not much of an end in sight. I woke up day before yesterday just angry at the world, angry at God, angry at the situation.

    This morning, God decided to give me a wakeup call. Looking back on it it was like he was screaming “WAKE UP CHILD! There is so much beauty to behold!” but of course, I’m only human and wasn’t paying attention. I decided to do my daily readings (which I’d skipped the last few days…) and go on to read all about “living in the moment.” Later, I turned on Jeremy Camp Radio (my favorite Christian singer right now) and the first song that came on was Jeremy Camp’s “Live In the Moment.” Okay, so it’s kinda redundant right? Love that song, but okay I get the point. Then the next song really hit home. Hillsong’s “All is New.” The first couple of phrases goes like this…

    “Your love’s making all things new
    You’re working in all for good
    And for the things of this world
    There is hope renewed
    In the life that is found in You.”

    Right there, I felt like I ran into a brick wall, looked around me and felt like I woke up from a dream. It is okay to be mad sometimes but I’d let it control me. Times are hard, the world is a hard place to live in right now, but I have to believe in something greater and that it will all be okay. Take in what beauty is around you, your kids, your family, the blue skies, music, whatever moves you. Just DO IT.

    So seriously, here are some ideas of things I’ll be posting about in the future, because I am determined to not let this “new norm” be a “new funk” for me. There is so much to enjoy and “stop and smell the roses” during this time, let’s try some.

    1. Flashlight Tag – I did this as a kid, who remembers this!
    2. Races around the block – doesn’t matter your age!
    3. Gardening – I have a garden, I should learn about it
    4. Photography – This is a big one, I’ll explain more in one of my upcoming CreativeChaos blogs!
    5. Beading- one of my long lost hobbies
    6. Organization – I have gone through so much of my house it’s not even funny. I’ve found things that I didn’t know about.
    7. I have more ideas than I can list here but stay tuned every Friday for a new blog post!!!

    Hang in there you guys, “this too shall pass” it sucks right now, but let’s not let it define us and the “funk” we allow ourselves to get into. There are so many beautiful things about this world and our lives, we just need to learn to appreciate them a little more. <3 We’ve got this.

  • Signs to Remember | Creative Chaos

    Signs to Remember | Creative Chaos

    So here I am sitting at my desk, about to start my anatomy homework… today is no different than any other day I sit at my desk to work or do schoolwork, but today was just hard. Looking at my two little boys and thinking, “am I ever going to be able to take them to a playground to play? Will Bradley be able to start preschool? Will we be able to go on that road trip to see my husband’s family 1,300 miles away? Will my mom get to meet Andrew?” These questions, and more were running through my head today. I have several signs on my desk that I’ve surrounded myself with that remind me on days like this that “This too shall pass”. So I’m not sure which one of you need to hear this today, but I sure did.

    Sign #1: “Take pride in how far you have come and have faith in how far you can go” – As a species, we have made it through, the plague, the flu, swine flu, and so many other terrifying diseases. Technology has come so far and we will find a treatment. We have made progress and know more about Covid, as terrifying as it is. We will get through this.

    Sign #2 – “Let your faith be bigger than your fear” – Everyone has different beliefs, but my faith will carry me through this, I need to focus on the bigger picture, instead of being scared of the what-if’s.

    Sign #3 – “Too blessed to be stressed” – Yep… This is true, I am very fortunate in these hard times, my husband and children are home with me and are happy. When today being Memorial Day, so many families aren’t as fortunate… My thoughts and prayers are with those families, and remind me to be thankful for what I have and hug my family a little tighter today.

    So while this morning has been hard. We all have hard days, we all have sad days, but like my last two signs say… “if it is to be, it is up to me.” (Thanks Dad for the 2 letter word idiom) and “girl, you’ve got this”.

    All of these speak so true, we just need to remember… this too shall pass. So hang in there… You’ve got this.