Quarantine. It’s a word that most of us understood the dictionary definition of, but probably never used much in daily conversation over the years. Well, how times have changed.
In the last three months, the word quarantine has been permanently imprinted into our minds along with its ripple effects, short and long-lasting. We use the term and others like social distancing and pandemic more times a day than one could ever keep up with. Can I buy a vowel?
Being in isolation, apart from our family, friends and anyone else we used to encounter on a regular basis comes with a whirlwind of different emotions. Some good, some bad. Some love the concept of self-quarantining; others are losing their minds more and more as the days pass.
Things seem to turn on a dime every day. Attempting to maintain any type of homeostasis can be a joke. It’s like a yo-yo, though nowhere near as amusing.
Who have you been during the quarantine?
The Productivity Enthusiast: All this free time has to be utilized to the fullest and why not work from the inside out? If indoors is where you are to be 90% of the time, you’re going to reflect on your shortcomings and turn that into something beneficial for the future. You will come out of this pandemic a better person. Throughout the day, you think, ‘Wow, I’m getting so much done today’. That might only be cleaning your bathroom and doing a 10 minute Instagram-inspired workout, but you are doing the damn thing! You’re analyzing various parts of the house that look like they could use a little renovation or touch-up for no reason whatsoever. SO MUCH TO GET DONE.
The Lazy POS: There are a few false starts in thinking you’re going to get anything of true substance done today. You might start the day with good intentions, but you wind up staring at trivial bullshit on your phone/computer for hours on end and then realize it’s already 8PM. Time for dinner! Time for some more TV! You get in bed with the hope and ambition that tomorrow will be a more rewarding day. Will it? Nobody knows. This laziness is either innate and only being encouraged and/or exacerbated by the confinement or there’s an ambiguous existential crisis causing the lethargy. Either way, what’s next on the Netflix queue?
The Blissfully Ignorant: Upon waking up, you’ve almost forgotten above what’s happening in the world and its devastation. Everything feels normal. But not to worry – within a minute, you remember. You realize that for now, you are living in your own little bubble with minimal interaction to anything real outside, unless you turn on the news. In order to keep up this facade, you have a day full of light tasks, TV, music, minimal social media and cooking. Now’s the time to try out that new recipe. You’ve got the time. You figure if you have to be home constantly, you may as well commit and live your best life there (whatever that means these days).
The Paranoid Mess: After watching Governor Cuomo’s daily briefing, you feel informed and hopeful, but also a mix of fearful, sad and uncertain. The fact is that even if this virus tampers down within the next few months, there’s still many unclear variables for the foreseeable next couple years – if you’re to believe the ‘experts’. This concept brings you great dismay and has you all sorts of neurotic about what life is going to be in the future. How long will we have to wear masks in public? Did I scrub my hands enough today? Will I have a job and/or financial security? Will I be able to live a somewhat normal life again this decade? 2020 was going to be your year! The lies we tell ourselves.
The Liquor Haze: Indulging in the versatile and soothing, albeit unpredictable elixir that is alcohol on the weekends (and maybe weeknights) is a truly blissful time of enjoying the three people in your immediate vicinity while treating yourself to some entertainment; Ozark, Big Mouth and Outer Banks are some recent favorites. The threat of COVID-19 and its possibilities haven’t faded, but after a couple strong drinks, you say ‘f*ck it’ and bask in the glory of these few hours where nothing matters. Ignoring your problems and masking them with some supplemental fun like booze can be a great healer… until tomorrow. Dark, but true.
The Daydreamer: You find yourself staring off into the void, letting your imagination run wild about whatever it might come across at that point, like whatever happened to that old friend that moved away in the 5th grade. You hope they’re doing well. Maybe you can find them on Instagram. You then realize you’ve been blankly staring at the wall for a good half hour before wondering what the hell is going on and where you are. You feel a bit off-kilter and in a complete fog. There’s a vague anxiety going on somewhere subconsciously, even if you’re not actively panicky or sad about things. These are moments to thank the brain for being so multi-faceted in blocking out your fight-or-flight type responses, if only for a little while.
The Planner: This contagion is crazy, horrifying and overwhelming. It’s made you question your existence, how fragile life is, how much you appreciate the little things and what you’re doing with your time. If you make it out of this situation alive and mentally composed, there’s so much you have to do. You’re going to be a more compassionate and motivated human being. You’re going to reconnect with old friends. You’re going to take that trip to Europe (well, maybe not Europe for a bit). You’re going to drop than dead-end job – if you haven’t already been furloughed or fired – and go after that position you really want. You’re going to do so much and enjoy every day of your life. This can be the most encouraging of all the phases and motions you’re going through at the moment. It has a lot of great potential in it. But for the time being, you realize that a lot of it is going to have to just be a nice thought…
The Apathetic: You do not give a shit about the guidelines, statistics or this virus – for better and worse. People could learn a thing or two from you – also for better and worse. The only reason you’re wearing a mask at the supermarket is because you aren’t a fan of prison or unnecessary brawls in the produce section. You think the government has always been a sham and this pandemic is only proving that. You are wildly indifferent about the logistics of life right now. While everyone is losing their minds, you’re just taking it in stride, waiting for the worst to be over. You keep the appropriate social distance, but also are only doing so out of common courtesy for your inner circle. Life can’t be predicted and you’re not going to let a new virus mess with your flow.
Throughout this quarantine, some weeks have flown. Others feel like they’ve been a year. The only constant is that the world is in complete disarray and your emotional frame of mind – and maybe your weight – has developed a tendency to go up and down faster than the rising death toll.
It’s not as unsettling as it can feel though. At noon, you might be feeling out of sorts and like everything is hopeless, but by 3PM, you’re optimistic after hearing a 105 year old beat their case of COVID-19. If that’s not reason to celebrate these days, what is?
Life is all about perspective and learning how to maintain a little more balance during rough tides. I don’t know anything about surfing, but that seemed like an appropriate metaphor.
mark.angiello 