Ask Maggie is an advice column by Maggie Mattuchio Flynn, a self-professed lover of all beings who has been advising her friends since kindergarten. Maggie is the the founder of The Deep Agency, a full-service creative agency supporting the wellness community, and has cultivated an open heart and deep sense of intuition to overcome alcoholism. She spends her personal time hiking, teaching yoga and offering reiki to animals.
Dear Self,
I’m on Day 30 of total isolation as I write this to myself. I suffer from allergy-induced asthma, I’m a reformed smoker (cigarettes), and committed many betrayals and atrocities to my gut health — aka immune system — during my teens/twenties while over-exercising, under-eating and a myriad of disorders that are more common than not for female-identifying beings in our fucked up society. All this to say, immediately social distancing was a must for me during the spread of COVID-19.
On Friday, March 6th I began my self-quarantine.
At first, being a professional social distancer was an easy transition. I work from home and I’m already an extroverted introvert, but as days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into what felt like years, my gratitude began to transform. Each day, I find myself grateful for my health and the health of my immediate community, but I have also become an OCD-fueled version of Judge Judy passing judgement on everyone that isn’t complying with my level of quarantine….and I mean everyone. I vocalize “shame on them” at least a hundreds times a day for behavior like hiking, to ordering non-essential items from Amazon, to not wearing a mask, to smoking too much weed, to asking me too many questions… Sometimes, my patience is definitely running thin.
For my part, I’m waking up at 5 AM every morning, trying to start the day on a positive note by quietly watching the sunrise and listening to reassuring lectures from my guru, Swami Chetanananda. Two hours later, I am passing judgement on a complete stranger. I have limited my news intake and only talk to certain friends, I’ve been limiting my contact with anyone that I suspect might still be supportive of Donald Trump and his disastrous response to the Coronavirus pandemic, eating superfoods, taking ashwagandha, turmeric, and immune supporting vitamins, practicing online yoga, Pony Sweat aerobics classes, and lots of dancing.
I’ve also been adhering to a schedule:
5 AM-630 AM — Watch the sunrise and meditation (if it feels right)
630 AM-7 AM — Coffee, listening to records and selected readings from Swami Chetanananda, Ram Dass, Thich Nhat Hanh, Pema Chödrön
7 AM-830 AM — Breakfast, take supplements (Garden of Life Probiotics and Raw One Women’s Multivitamin, Pukka Turmeric, Source of Life Gold Liquid), brush teeth (I keep forgetting this one), shower, get dressed.
9 AM-1130 AM — Work
11 AM-1230 PM Read a book or watch an online educational lecture via Youtube
1 PM- 2PM Lunch with my partner
2 PM-4 PM — Afternoons are left open for charitable work, free motivational coaching for women, free reiki for pets and people, creative brainstorms for people who don’t have the budget but still need help
4 PM- 6 PM — Exercise: PonySweat Aerobics, YogaGlo classes or Master Dance Classes via Move with Colour followed by my daily afternoon Vahdam Turmeric Latte
6 PM — Cook dinner
7PM — Family Movie Night: Pick a year. Pick one of our favorite movies. Or, we read to each other…old-fashioned and lovely.
Bedtime Routine: Wash face, gua sha, brush teeth, prepare essential oil diffuser, climb into bed with my book. I recite my mantra seven times before closing my eyes, my form of prayer.
Despite everything, my jaw is still locking, my heart is still racing and the thoughts in my head are just bananas. I know the answer is connection. We are powerful vibrational beings having a human experience and lack of connection is fueling my anxious bossy Aries outbursts in an effort to get us back to physical interaction. So, I thought this month, instead of me giving you advice about how to make it through, I would just like to hear how you are doing.
If this template works for you, try writing a letter to yourself during this time, cataloguing the good and bad, creating a schedule to maintain a modicum of sanity, and writing down proof that you’ve made it through, too, isolated as we may be.
Love, good health and prosperity for all,
— Maggie
