Note from the ACDIS Associate Editor: Holding down the fort

by Carolyn Riel

It’s hard to believe that it’s already the first week of August. Not that summer is over by any means, but so far it has seemed to have flown by. Maybe it’s because we haven’t really be able to do “normal summer things,” like go to the beach with friends and stop on the way home for some lobster rolls (a major benefit of living in New England). Any cookouts have been sparse and socially distant, and “end of the week” celebratory drinks have been downed on personal patios instead of the local bar.

Not that any of these new ways of normal are bad, they’re just different. But we are all finding ways to make the transition easier and keep our normal summer activities and plans alive.

This week, myself and Associate Editorial Director Melissa Varnavas are holding down the fort here at ACDIS while Editor Linnea Archibald and Director Brian Murphy are taking some well-deserved vacation time. We got to chat virtually with one another for a future episode of our Facebook Live Meet Up Monday events, which was fun. She’s working on a series of events with our New England ACDIS chapters and our new “Curtain Call: Behind the Scenes of Star-Studded CDI Programs,” event.  I’m working on pulling together the September/October edition of the CDI Journal, if you can believe it, and compiling the daily Q&As which will be sent out to ACDIS members during CDI Week September 14-18. The CDI Week committee and I have been brainstorming some fun ideas for activities, too, such as nominating your own department’s “CDI Stars” to earn a place on your facility’s CDI Walk of Fame, or holding a Hollywood themed face covering decorating contest

I feel that with so many people working from home since the middle of March, we’ve for some reason become less inclined to take time off. Maybe we think, “Well, I can just take a half day and pop in if I’m needed,” or it doesn’t cross our mind as much to take vacations if we can’t really go anywhere. But I think now more than ever it’s important to take time and unplug from work for a while.

The obvious state of the world has made everything different, and we all are trying to find out new ways of normal; working from home, taking care of children out of school, socially distanced gatherings. But that new normal still has to include taking time off. We all have gone through a lot of stress the past few months and need to make sure we are taking care of our mental health. So whether that means taking an afternoon off for a remote kayak trip, or a week long stay-cation, make sure to take the time off you need to maintain your mental health just as we’ve been protecting our physical health during this pandemic. There will be people like Melissa and I to hold down the fort. But don’t worry, we’ll be taking time, too, later this summer. I’m looking forward to taking some time off to sit outside and catch up on my reading list.

Editor’s note: Riel is the associate editor for ACDIS. Contact her at criel@acdis.org.