May16th. Its almost exactly two months since we, as a family, began our restricted living. Emmanuel packed his books and came back from Omaha on the 16th of March and life, as we knew it, vanished! Poof!
If anything can drive home the impermanence of life, the current pandemic can and it is driving it home in spades.
Things we took for granted have become luxuries and I don't just mean yeast and baking flour.
Our very way of life has become history. Going to the mall just to walk around because you have nothing else to do has become impossible. Going to the movies because it is cheap Tuesday and kids are in school and you have time to kill is also impossible. Saturdays and Sundays being reserved for trips to the beach as a family because we've finally gotten rid of winter and spring is popping it head? Impossible. On a more mundane level, jumping in the car to go get a sprig of cilantro for your chicken dish because you forgot?Any bets on what the answer is?
I still remember the enthusiasm people had when we shut down. No one actually worried back then about how things were going to end. All we thought about was that we had to stay home and stay safe because we didn't want the infection to overwhelm the medical system and frankly, we didn't want to fall sick. We took this opportunity to hunker down as a family as God sent and we happily began cooking new dishes, playing board games with kids and binge watching stuff we had meant to but didn't have the time until then. Life seemed different and interesting because we hadn't ever done things this was before. Everyone had a routine and followed it day in and day out until then. It seemed like there was indefinite amount of time being gifted to you.To do whatever you wanted to with. We were thrilled and excited at being able to open that gift box.
And then we woke up the next day, and the next day and the next until one day we realized that we could do whatever we wanted to do, but it had to be within the confines of your home. You had to completely give up on the stuff outside the home. Yes you could take walks but you couldn't stop and chat with a friend you run into. Yes you could go grocery shopping, but you couldn't linger at the produce aisle sniffing the bananas for ripeness. Any trips outside the house were carefully curated trips. Masks were packed for the trip.Sanitizers were added to glove compartments.Grocery bags lined up and lists made lest you forget something. That you could rush back in the store and buy it is known, but do you really want the hassle of going back in, maneuvering carefully through the shoppers and hoping whatever you missed out is in stock? All under the threat of maybe being infected by a stray sneeze?
So going out, which is preferably only for essentials, takes the joy out of going out.
And the whole social media thing? Yes, it is a lifesaver. We can stay in touch and even enjoy our friendships now more than ever. But being glued to a device has its own issues. Messing up your eyesight is one. And sometimes you can see people's enthusiasm for these times waning- in real time, on your phone screen. You see people's coping mechanism for this lock down. Some sane, some insane, some inspiring but some eyeroll worthy. Memes shared, jokes cracked, legs pulled, memories refreshed, but there is only so much support you can get out of your device.
Family is lovely but being shut in with the same members sometimes amplifies their shortcomings and puts them in an entirely new light. While I concede that having kids puts you squarely in that camp for a very long time, lock down or not, the inability to take a breather will be suffocating! With two teenagers..I know the feeling anyway!
Cooking, reading, music, both listening and playing, working out, watching movies, all of these are good and all, but this whole 'not going out' thing is tough.
I'm reminded of reality shows where people are put into artificially created environments with certain constraints and asked to compete against each other. Our lives almost seems like that. We've been dropped into this artificial world and seem to be competing- but for what? Some of us do document our experience and I'm wondering how we will look at this in hindsight- as a good thing or a bad thing. What we would have learnt from this. But in the meanwhile, I'm bored and I'm done!
So how do we hit the reset button? I know the need for this lock down is mostly understandable.Most folks agree with it too. But it still doesn't make it easy.
I'm lost on this one.
I'm not losing it or desperate. Just bored and impatient.
What needs to happen to helps us feel better about this whole thing?
May 30th,2020.
I found the thing!Eureka!!
We just took a trip to the beach. Memorial day is the official beginning of summer here and it always kickstarts our trips to the beach. So, Coronavirus or no, I told Vincent that we should go. But we decided to take all the precautions necessary. Masks were taken just in case the place was crowded. We decided to pick a beach we could drive into. That way if it was too crowded, we could just sit in the car and enjoy the ocean. Even after we got there, we decided to park the car facing away from the ocean so we could sit in the trunk space and watch the waves rolling in. But the stars aligned and we were able to park the car and get out and walk. A good 40 minute walk, the water lapping at our feet, cold and wet, the sun playing peekaboo with the clouds and the breeze wafting in and causing a momentary chill only to be chased away by the reappearance of the sun, the salty tang of the air we breathed in, the seabirds cawing in the distance, the squeals of little kids everytime a wave hit their swimsuit clad bodies and of course , the vroom of trucks making a dash on the wet sand.
When we got back in the car, I was happy. For a better part of an hour, we had this utopia.It was like before, you did not worry about being careful, keeping a safe distance, wearing masks, washing hands-nothing. It was just you and the ocean.A primal relationship.You and the infinite. It clears your mind.
So yes, I'm kinda ready, bring it on...the long haul seems tolerable now. I've found my panacea. I will whenever possibly, try to go to the beach. Refill my depleted patience.Fill up on the determination to hang in there. Keep me sane.
Return to nature. That it seems, is one way to dig in and make it through.
If anything can drive home the impermanence of life, the current pandemic can and it is driving it home in spades.
Things we took for granted have become luxuries and I don't just mean yeast and baking flour.
Our very way of life has become history. Going to the mall just to walk around because you have nothing else to do has become impossible. Going to the movies because it is cheap Tuesday and kids are in school and you have time to kill is also impossible. Saturdays and Sundays being reserved for trips to the beach as a family because we've finally gotten rid of winter and spring is popping it head? Impossible. On a more mundane level, jumping in the car to go get a sprig of cilantro for your chicken dish because you forgot?Any bets on what the answer is?
I still remember the enthusiasm people had when we shut down. No one actually worried back then about how things were going to end. All we thought about was that we had to stay home and stay safe because we didn't want the infection to overwhelm the medical system and frankly, we didn't want to fall sick. We took this opportunity to hunker down as a family as God sent and we happily began cooking new dishes, playing board games with kids and binge watching stuff we had meant to but didn't have the time until then. Life seemed different and interesting because we hadn't ever done things this was before. Everyone had a routine and followed it day in and day out until then. It seemed like there was indefinite amount of time being gifted to you.To do whatever you wanted to with. We were thrilled and excited at being able to open that gift box.
And then we woke up the next day, and the next day and the next until one day we realized that we could do whatever we wanted to do, but it had to be within the confines of your home. You had to completely give up on the stuff outside the home. Yes you could take walks but you couldn't stop and chat with a friend you run into. Yes you could go grocery shopping, but you couldn't linger at the produce aisle sniffing the bananas for ripeness. Any trips outside the house were carefully curated trips. Masks were packed for the trip.Sanitizers were added to glove compartments.Grocery bags lined up and lists made lest you forget something. That you could rush back in the store and buy it is known, but do you really want the hassle of going back in, maneuvering carefully through the shoppers and hoping whatever you missed out is in stock? All under the threat of maybe being infected by a stray sneeze?
So going out, which is preferably only for essentials, takes the joy out of going out.
And the whole social media thing? Yes, it is a lifesaver. We can stay in touch and even enjoy our friendships now more than ever. But being glued to a device has its own issues. Messing up your eyesight is one. And sometimes you can see people's enthusiasm for these times waning- in real time, on your phone screen. You see people's coping mechanism for this lock down. Some sane, some insane, some inspiring but some eyeroll worthy. Memes shared, jokes cracked, legs pulled, memories refreshed, but there is only so much support you can get out of your device.
Family is lovely but being shut in with the same members sometimes amplifies their shortcomings and puts them in an entirely new light. While I concede that having kids puts you squarely in that camp for a very long time, lock down or not, the inability to take a breather will be suffocating! With two teenagers..I know the feeling anyway!
Cooking, reading, music, both listening and playing, working out, watching movies, all of these are good and all, but this whole 'not going out' thing is tough.
I'm reminded of reality shows where people are put into artificially created environments with certain constraints and asked to compete against each other. Our lives almost seems like that. We've been dropped into this artificial world and seem to be competing- but for what? Some of us do document our experience and I'm wondering how we will look at this in hindsight- as a good thing or a bad thing. What we would have learnt from this. But in the meanwhile, I'm bored and I'm done!
So how do we hit the reset button? I know the need for this lock down is mostly understandable.Most folks agree with it too. But it still doesn't make it easy.
I'm lost on this one.
I'm not losing it or desperate. Just bored and impatient.
What needs to happen to helps us feel better about this whole thing?
May 30th,2020.
I found the thing!Eureka!!
We just took a trip to the beach. Memorial day is the official beginning of summer here and it always kickstarts our trips to the beach. So, Coronavirus or no, I told Vincent that we should go. But we decided to take all the precautions necessary. Masks were taken just in case the place was crowded. We decided to pick a beach we could drive into. That way if it was too crowded, we could just sit in the car and enjoy the ocean. Even after we got there, we decided to park the car facing away from the ocean so we could sit in the trunk space and watch the waves rolling in. But the stars aligned and we were able to park the car and get out and walk. A good 40 minute walk, the water lapping at our feet, cold and wet, the sun playing peekaboo with the clouds and the breeze wafting in and causing a momentary chill only to be chased away by the reappearance of the sun, the salty tang of the air we breathed in, the seabirds cawing in the distance, the squeals of little kids everytime a wave hit their swimsuit clad bodies and of course , the vroom of trucks making a dash on the wet sand.
When we got back in the car, I was happy. For a better part of an hour, we had this utopia.It was like before, you did not worry about being careful, keeping a safe distance, wearing masks, washing hands-nothing. It was just you and the ocean.A primal relationship.You and the infinite. It clears your mind.
So yes, I'm kinda ready, bring it on...the long haul seems tolerable now. I've found my panacea. I will whenever possibly, try to go to the beach. Refill my depleted patience.Fill up on the determination to hang in there. Keep me sane.
Return to nature. That it seems, is one way to dig in and make it through.
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