I have a Severe Case of Kummerspeck

German is a fantastic language. It gives us wonderful words, that for the non-native German speakers, can sound harsh, guttural and slightly ridiculous.

But they express a situation so well.

Schadenfreude (which means getting pleasure from the pain of others) is the basis of so many tv series and YouTube channels. It is the guilty pleasure of many of us, myself included!

Zeitgeist means the mood of the culture or the spirit of the times and is now commonly used in English conversations.

But the word that best sums up what seems to be happening in my life and those around us is Kummerspeck. Literally this means Grief Bacon.

Many around me are talking about Corona Kilos added from excess eating during lock down or feeling out of control so eating over it. Surely this is grief bacon!

The pandemic has shattered our illusion of control and so we do what we can to feel more in control or to use the time we have as productively as possible. For me that means making cinnamon scrolls, brownies and other yummy treats and then giving most of what I made away.

The longer the pandemic goes on, the more of a challenge it will be for us. Personally, I suspect this pandemic will go until late 2021. There will continue to be rolling lock downs as we deal with trying to minimise the impact of the disease.

The Germans have a word for this too, Scheisse.

But in the mantra of 2020, “It is what it is”. So let’s continue on, grateful we are not dodging bullets, having bombs dropped on us, or suffering from something far worse than being forced to stay in our homes.

If you need to get out virtually, don’t forget to join my What’s Up Wednesday sessions that happen every Wednesday. Click here for more details. We just chat about what is going on and see what help everyone needs (and have a fair bit of fun along the way!)

Stay strong and love your Kummerspeck.