Is Ice Cream a Necessity?
By Cheryl Johnston
So, here we find ourselves, a little over two years since our way of life dramatically changed after the appearance of COVID-19. Our world changed in ways that reminded me of the many post-apocalyptic movies that have always been popular in American culture, and I watched growing up in the ‘70s and ‘80s. I remember wondering how long this could really go on and fairly certain that this would last a month, two at most.
I was blessed to have three fulfilling careers at the onset of the pandemic. As a Visiting Lecturer for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) School of Social Work, I suddenly had to move the five classes I was teaching into an online format and guide students who were as bewildered with the situation as I through a new format for learning experiences. I am also a hospice social worker for Nathan Adelson Hospice in Pahrump, Nevada and began to navigate an entirely new world of grief in the loss of our typical human connection and fear of an unknown contagion combined with the existing end of life issues and emotions. Finally, I was a professional pianist/organist and suddenly we were adapting the weekly church services to a live-stream and that was no small feat! In these two years I have obtained my PhD in Psychology, I no longer work as a professional musician, and I’ve been promoted to Clinical Manager. I’m going to assume a new administrative role at UNLV soon, and I have to stop and count the blessings despite the tragedies around me.
Looking back, it seemed surreal to switch everything to remote so quickly. Pahrump, and I would hazard to say most of rural Nevada, was not in any way equipped to face a shutdown. A shift to working from home encompassed challenges unlike those in urban areas – no grocery delivery services, an already over-burdened healthcare system, and the access to internet is an entirely different beast in remote or rural communities. While telehealth was something of a novelty, it became a necessity as we learned to care for one another using unfamiliar technology. There was an overwhelming sense from the Pahrump community that COVID-19 was not likely to be an issue in the rural area because people are so distant from one another. With this mindset, a large group remained unmasked and resistant to safeguards. Sadly, many suffered as COVID-19 struck nursing homes, assisted livings, and other vulnerable populations among us in Pahrump.
I’m sure, like many of you, when we shut down due to COVID-19 there is some mental placeholder of what was happening in your life. I recall it was St. Patrick’s Day, March 2020. We held a potluck at the hospice where I work with word that we would be working from home and the very next day, we were. We went home and called our patients and families to check in and be available for any emergencies or support needed. Church services stopped being held in person. The courses I taught at UNLV went remote and overnight everything changed.
We had been requested to only venture out for the necessities. Is ice cream a necessity? I determined it was absolutely a necessity in a pandemic, as were M&Ms and other “comfort” foods.
Mae West – “I generally avoid temptation unless I can’t resist it”
We all have some form of an inner voice or self-talk that, in cartoons like Tom and Jerry, was pictured as an angel on one shoulder and a little devil on the other. I believe in these past two years that I found it very easy to let the little devil side influence my decisions about diet, my lack of exercise, and my increased binge-watching crime shows. I found it very easy to justify that ice cream was indeed a necessity as was that giant bag of peanut M&Ms. Now that the world is (and my fingers are crossed!) starting to return to “normal” albeit a somewhat new normal, my self-talk has done a shift. Why didn’t I try to lose weight during the shutdown? Why didn’t I try to eat healthier? Why didn’t I do like Sally next door or Joe on Good Morning America who developed these new exercise routines? I don’t know about you, but I’ve really lectured myself about what I “should” have been doing and if I’m not careful, I can become kind of a bully. Do you find that you bully yourself? We all have an internal critic but how much weight (ha! Get it? Weight?) do we give that voice?
Now, our inner voice isn’t all bad – it does often protect us and debate with us on the virtues of this or that. Self-reflection and listening to our inner selves is a valuable tool as long as we remember it is just that – a tool. I’ve started practicing and my students may say preaching that it is important to listen to that inner voice – no, not hear…LISTEN and remind yourself to not be a bully. If your voice says you’re not good enough, or pretty enough or…whatever enough – notice what you’re internalizing and rewrite the tune the voice is singing.
In the silence that was the social isolation of the pandemic shutdown, too many of us let that voice dictate things that for some were dark and lonely, made more so by comparisons to those who accomplished amazing and healthy lifestyle changes. So, I am working to shift my own inner voice to acknowledge that I don’t have to own the best this or that. I don’t have to be the best cook. I can eat ice cream (in moderation), and I am “good enough.” Reflect on your own voice. What are you telling yourself and what do you believe to be true of that voice?
I try to live my life by these words from Denzel Washington – but remember that they should be applied to our own inner self-talk – lift yourself up, make yourself better.
Denzel Washington – “At the end of the day it’s not about what you have or even what you’ve accomplished…it’s about who you’ve lifted up, who you’ve made better. It’s about what you’ve given back.”
Photo courtesy of Dr. Cheryl Johnston.
Dr. Cheryl Johnston is the Clinical Manager for Nathan Adelson Pahrump Team. She joined Nathan Adelson Hospice in 2012, initially as a student and then as a medical social worker, after completing her two-year practicum at the agency and established the Nathan Adelson Hospice We Honor Veterans program. Dr. Johnston is a faculty member of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) School of Social Work. She obtained her Master’s degree in Social Work from UNLV and her doctorate in Psychology with a specialization in Trauma and Disaster Response from North Central University. Her focus in education is aging and end of life care for marginalized populations such as veterans and the LGBTQ population, as well as those suffering from religious trauma and spiritual abuse.
Dr. Johnston began her professional journey at the University of Missouri-Joplin studying for a business career with an emphasis in accounting. She served in the U.S. Army and, upon receiving an honorable discharge, went on to work as a Chief Financial Officer for various industries and moved to southern Nevada in 1995. She became a Nationally Certified Guardian in 2007 and worked for a private guardianship firm in Las Vegas where she brought her 20+ years of financial management to the field of elder care before joining the Nathan Adelson Hospice team.
Dr. Johnston currently lives in Pahrump with her wife of 27+ years and has eight adopted children.
Thank you for visiting Humanities Heart to Heart, a program of Nevada Humanities. Any views or opinions represented in posts or content on the Humanities Heart to Heart webpage are personal and belong solely to the author or contributor and do not represent those of Nevada Humanities, its staff, or any donor, partner, or affiliated organization, unless explicitly stated. At no time are these posts understood to promote particular political, religious, or ideological points of view; advocate for a particular program or social or political action; or support specific public policies or legislation on behalf of Nevada Humanities, its staff, any donor, partner, or affiliated organization. Omissions, errors, or mistakes are entirely unintentional. Nevada Humanities makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on these posts or found by following any link embedded in these posts. Nevada Humanities reserves the right to alter, update, or remove content on the Humanities Heart to Heart webpage at any time.