My Quarantine Life So Far
Hi. How have you been?
I’m doing okay. I mean, now. Now I am okay.
It’s hard to believe that the world was at a standstill back in March of this year. For me, that when I was asked to work from home until further notice. For some, it meant working at home while caring for their families. For others it was more dire, where people were out of jobs or businesses shut down. And for many, it meant they lost their lives to COVID-19, the pandemic virus that caused all this.
I’m not going to go into how it all began. All I know is that it is very contagious - you could catch it by just breathing next to someone who had it or has it now. It’s a tricky little thing because some people are asymptomatic, so they could be walking around with the virus and not show it. Slowly, this is how the virus spread around the world. First Asia, then Europe, then the Americas.
I’m sad to say the U.S. was not prepared. We wrote it off - I know I certainly did. I thought, “This will all be over by summertime.” When the virus came to New York, it had to be contained so that our hospitals wouldn’t get overloaded. Our government urged people to work from home to prevent the spread. Limited shopping. Limited or no contact with others, including family. All types of businesses closed and all events were postponed or cancelled. As the death toll rose, buildings like the Jacob Javits Convention Center were converted to hospitals. We had a shortage of ventilators, gloves and masks for the healthcare workers. And for some reason, we ran out of toilet paper. Yes, toilet paper.
I thought I would be okay. I’ve always been okay with being alone, so living in quarantine was fine for me. I watched a lot of shows on streaming media. A lot. In different languages (thank goodness for subtitles). I met up with friends using Zoom (and was thankful that we have this kind of technology today). I drank a lot because it seemed like any day had happy hour. I was giving myself permission to be a glorified coach potato.
After a few weeks, things became difficult at work. All my international events were going virtual. I had to learn how to use different platforms. All the events that could run themselves, all of a sudden, needed my presence. Some events occurred at the same time. And because some of them occurred internationally, I was up in the middle of the night for a week at a time while struggling to keep up with other work during normal business hours. Weeks became months. I was overloaded and exhausted. At that point, it’s just so easy to get angry at…well, everybody and everything.
After I completed all my spring events, I took some time off. I went to the beach at the invitation of a friend. This was the most traveling I could do, and I wanted to get away from my own house. I needed to self-reflect. I wasn’t happy. What could I do that would make me happy?
At the beach, my friend pointed to a group of students from the local surfing school. “That’s a great shot,” he said. From that point, I just started to take pictures.
It was such a little thing that led to a big thing of just being more aware of everyone and everything around me, of seeing things more creatively. Even if it was no big deal. I started looking for photo opportunities in this quarantine life. I started learning how to film better and edit videos from YouTube.
I started talking to family and friends a little bit more. I started to do meal preps for the week, learning how to cook healthy recipes. I also started exercising more. I’m not thrilled about going to the gym but I’m addicted to the feeling I get after a workout.
As summer comes to a close, things have started to improve. Restaurants and other businesses have started to open. Social distancing and hygiene protocols have been set in office buildings and retail stores. Everyone wears a mask. For those who don’t, I stay clear of them.
I’d say it took the last two months of me going through all these emotions, and then recognizing new opportunities that came with this quiet life. Recognizing what makes me happy. Family. Friends. Being creative. Cooking. Traveling. TV Dramas. Even exercising. All of it.
Now I’m hopeful of the future. I think I’ll be okay. I hope you’ll be okay too.
~T~
