Fer the love of, could 2020 get any more bananas? Really, my instinct was to just post this week’s column filled with videos of kittens in a basket and puppies in a field. But on further reflection, I began to think on the topic of comfort—not to mention that writing this is keeping me from refreshing my news sites over and over and over. And over. So, yes, distraction, comfort and their usefulness.

When my local nightly news source, PBS Newshour, pulled all their people indoors for segments, suddenly the awfulness that they were talking about, otherwise known as the news, became a study in diversions that had nothing to do with the words coming out of their mouths. Would you look at Judy Woodruff’s bookcase? That woman must be really into Civil War history. Jeez, Amna Nawaz has some excellent modern art on that wall. And so on. These observations would run along side what events were being talked about, so it wasn’t a total loss of information. But even a million months into at-home news segments, their are two journalists who could be telling me I’ve won a million dollars and long-lasting world peace had been achieved and all I’d hear for the first forty seconds of their mouth moving would be that Charlie Brown teacher blah-blah-blah sound. That is because I’m looking, actively nose-close-up-to-the-TV-screen attentive, to see if their cats are around. Lisa Desjardins and William Brangham each have a couple of felines that are incredibly entertaining. Dennis is really very patient with me during these moments since I might be blocking the screen. If they’re there, I get inordinately happy. If they’re not, I get over it fairly quickly, but still…I do enjoy seeing them and might feel a little gloomy if I don’t.

So comfort. Diversions. We find them where we can. If you’re lucky enough to have one installed in your house, I’m thinking pets or maybe a jester of some sort or you live with Sarah Cooper, then yay. Otherwise, it can take some amount of focus to bring the joy. For me, stepping away from the reality outside the door at least one-half-hour before sleeping is crucial. I use books for that. One that has nothing to do with world affairs and is often a novel. Sometimes the story involves superheroes like The City We Became. Although there are times I am saddened that we don’t have our own superpeople to call on so I’ll turn to other options. Right now I’m reading Caitlin Moran’s new nonfiction More Than a Woman and because it’s both hilarious and true in so many ways, I get an endorphin rush while learning stuff.

I’ve always been a creature of some habit (see post on) and have developed a bit of a rhythm for my week-to-week: three parts activism from home with WP4BL on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for anywhere from one-half to an hour. Mixed in with a bit of virtual Women’s March Action for this election season. Then I pull it inside and get on with the bits of the day not connected to crazyTown: tutoring, writing, communicating with my writing workshop. This last is interesting because most of the 15 students are in the UK, with one in Europe and three counting myself in the US. Last week, when I expressed dread on one of the forums about the debate, a little floodgate of sympathy opened up. The general sense was “We’re so sorry that you all are going through that” and “We have Boris, and while his hair wins the crazy contest by only a little, your guy takes the overall prize.” Happily we then return to each others writing, but in that short span I’m fascinated by perception/reality. As my good friend, Ruth, pointed out this last week, her friends from the UK send her news articles they think she might not be seeing regarding America and its perception outside of our shores. Eye-opening. Not necessarily comforting. When I asked my workshop pals what they turn to for self comfort, there was a lot of tea, a good portion of beer, and long walks (Berlin weighed in with coffee and pastry). I enjoy all those things. And also a good dose of (furry) creature comfort.

Here’s to hoping you all are finding your distractive comfort place wherever and whenever you can!