I also go out Much Less than I used to because playing dodge-the-zombies is stressful, but this is what I’ve settled on for making outdoor navigation viable (ymmv depending on things like “how dense is the potential-zombie population out in your area” etc): 1. If I am going out (further than “across the road to fetch something from the car”), I bring a mask. 2. If I encounter people that I can’t avoid by at least a good 3 meters or so, I put my mask on (or maybe more than that - People Anywhere Near Remotely Near Me - for the purpose of normalizing mask-wearing). Likewise if I’m going into an area where I expect there to Be People, and/or where there is enough traffic to make it unsafe to walk in the street, I will preemptively mask up. (Wandering around empty streets where mostly there are no humans and no cars, with occasional distant humans, I might not bother masking. But I’ll have it with me and easily accessible, and be paying attention to whether people are around.) 3. If I have to pass another person on the sidewalk and both of us are properly wearing masks, my brain screams a little bit but it’s fine (IT’S FINE IT’S FINE IT’S FINE). If I have to pass close another person who *isn’t* properly wearing a mask... often I will hold my breath until I am far enough past them. Because it doesn’t *matter* so much what they’re breathing out, if *I’m not breathing in*. (And either way I’m likely to walk fast. Because Ugh Zombies Get Away.)
I think if the “riskier behaviours” that your mask-wearing is encouraging you to take are “passing near occasional other people for a few seconds outdoors”, that’s probably not a thing to worry about - I suspect at that point you may just be tricking your brain into using more realistic risk-assessment? (Unless you actually just aren’t okay even in the abstract with accepting the level of risk that goes with passing someone briefly, in which case it sounds like your current avoidance of doing so would be Accurately Corresponding To etc.)
no subject
1. If I am going out (further than “across the road to fetch something from the car”), I bring a mask.
2. If I encounter people that I can’t avoid by at least a good 3 meters or so, I put my mask on (or maybe more than that - People Anywhere Near Remotely Near Me - for the purpose of normalizing mask-wearing). Likewise if I’m going into an area where I expect there to Be People, and/or where there is enough traffic to make it unsafe to walk in the street, I will preemptively mask up. (Wandering around empty streets where mostly there are no humans and no cars, with occasional distant humans, I might not bother masking. But I’ll have it with me and easily accessible, and be paying attention to whether people are around.)
3. If I have to pass another person on the sidewalk and both of us are properly wearing masks, my brain screams a little bit but it’s fine (IT’S FINE IT’S FINE IT’S FINE). If I have to pass close another person who *isn’t* properly wearing a mask... often I will hold my breath until I am far enough past them. Because it doesn’t *matter* so much what they’re breathing out, if *I’m not breathing in*. (And either way I’m likely to walk fast. Because Ugh Zombies Get Away.)
I think if the “riskier behaviours” that your mask-wearing is encouraging you to take are “passing near occasional other people for a few seconds outdoors”, that’s probably not a thing to worry about - I suspect at that point you may just be tricking your brain into using more realistic risk-assessment? (Unless you actually just aren’t okay even in the abstract with accepting the level of risk that goes with passing someone briefly, in which case it sounds like your current avoidance of doing so would be Accurately Corresponding To etc.)