Selma Blair talks staying home amid coronavirus: 'I've been pretty much in isolation for 2 years'
While many across the United States are having trouble adjusting to social distancing and staying home, one actress said that's been her new normal since an August 2018 medical diagnosis.
Selma Blair, diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, opened up about how the chronic disease has affected her while appearing on Miley Cyrus' Instagram live show, "Bright Minded Monday." She also gave advice to those facing illness, especially during this time of the coronavirus pandemic.
"This is not trying to be so self-centered, but I've been pretty much in isolation for two years because my physical issues. [They] make it harder to get out, harder to speak ... all these things," she said. "Now everyone's on this same daily trajectory I'm on."
She said her illness has adjusted her perspective, specifically her mental state, when looking at her problems.
"This is an incredible time for me, because I’m home, and to have my son home and to be able to have people understand ... there’s just nothing that gets me mad for long anymore, and it hasn’t for a couple years," Blair said.
Blair said she does not "keep a schedule" with her 8-year-old son, Arthur Saint Bleick, and wants him to enjoy their time together.
"He's on break right now too, so kind of anything goes," she told Cyrus with a laugh. "Dance party at midnight -- if he'll be seen with me alone in my house."
Cyrus asked Blair her advice for receiving medical news "that can immediately feel terrifying," and the actress stressed the importance of grasping the fragility of life.
"This moment is what we have -- we hope for more," Blair said, adding that "how we show our grace and being there for our loved ones, keeping ourselves strong, and also being vulnerable, a form of strength to me and has helped me for other people to shoulder stuff when I've been nervous."
Blair also advised people, "to be open but also really take this opportunity to be the best you can be -- to help your days along."
A positive attitude, despite the hardships that come with living with her illness, is something Blair is passionate about.
"Just the same with me getting a diagnosis of MS, or speech issues ... there's not been one minute where I've felt sorry for myself," she said. "I just really look in the moment because now I'm a middle-aged woman with an incurable disease, and it doesn't even matter."
She said in the past, she "had a whole lifetime of hurtful thoughts," but makes the choice to not "worry anymore."
"I worry about the people that I employ -- how I can keep them safer -- my son, my family and myself but other than that I don't," she added. "Not once have I helped myself by being angry or down on myself, and I’m just learning, at 47 ... Like, 'S---, this is my one chance! Like, just enjoy it.' And I do."
As the livestream took place Monday, on National Doctors Day, Blair also shared a message of appreciation for the health care workers.
"I'm in awe of people right now that are really battling through this in a much more active way than the rest of us staying at home," she said. "I'm in awe and admiration. I hope they feel the gratitude when they get to lay down at night, the doctors and nurses and everyone that's working under such duress to help our society."
