All my social media feeds are flooded with people trying to deal with the restrictions to their lifestyles because of COVID-19. It seems that sitting at home and working from the couch, while binge watching yet another season of Grey's Anatomy is the worst thing that could possibly happen to any of us.
Can we please take a minute to put things in perspective and count our blessings during this uncertain time? Chances are that you, dear reader, glued to social media these days:
Have a full pantry with 5 weeks' worth of food because you gave into hoarding like everyone else. You will not go hungry any time soon. If anything, you're overeating.
You are working from home, likely not being very productive, and still getting fully paid. You don't have money problems.
While we are on the subject of money, you barely broke a sweat when you paid $600 for those 5 weeks' worth of groceries.
You have more time to spend with your family and friends than you did before the world came to a screeching halt. You've been catching up with friends you would be too busy to otherwise. You're checking up on Grandma.
Yes, your little kids can be a nuisance running around you all the time. But they are safe and healthy, and you are no longer missing out on all their sweet little moments. They'll be older before you know it and wouldn't want anything to do with you.
You are able to make your dog the happiest they've ever been (while likely annoying the hell out of your cat - and it is so much fun!)
You're catching up on T.V. shows, movies, and books you have been meaning to for years. How many times will you get a "vacation" like this.
You smile at how the light touches different parts of your home. You've rarely been around during the day to notice that before.
All your loved ones are safe and will likely remain so.
You can catch up on that much needed sleep.
You suddenly have so much time on your hands. You always complained about never having enough time to clean-out that closet, to turn that spare bedroom into a study, to start that art project. This is it.
Unlike the healthcare professionals, you are not being called upon to risk your lives; to being worked into exhaustion.
Unlike the supermarket employees, the cleaners, the restaurant staff, and countless other service industry employees, you don't have to worry about whether you will get another paycheck and if you'll be able to make rent.
Your plumbing works, your electricity works, and best of all, your internet works. There are no bombs being dropped in your neighborhood, and you are not asked to hunker down in your basement to keep safe.
And most importantly, you have your health, you are not sick. You didn't have to be tested for Coronavirus. You didn't have to be put on a ventilator (and likely won't if you just stay put).
Before you know it, your life will be back to your chosen version of crazy, and you'll look back at this time with much fondness when you didn't have to change out of your pajamas and you could make yourself brunch everyday.
While I am not discounting the real health and economic challenges of this pandemic, I do want to question whether we, as individuals, have become so fragile that spending time with ourselves has become so incredibly challenging. Is slowing our lives down for a bit, following simple instructions for the sake of collective good, really the worse thing that could ever happen to us? Can we not spend a few days by ourselves without completely losing our shit? Can we not take a minute to count our blessings? Can we be kind - to ourselves? For just a few more days.
@iromanticize
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