What kind of person are you at the moment? The one that is calm and happy about having time for personal projects or family life? Or are you the one freaking out? Or maybe a double personality that is changing every two days? But in any case, is there not also that question in your mind how this all is affecting us? And when can we act as normal humans again?
I guess I’m the “double personality” kind. I must say that last week I started to have a kind of stable “quarantine routine” and I felt a new way of being free, of doing my own projects, of caring about myself. I must say that it felt like a break to my previous working routine and I was liking doing “whatever I wanted”. But when you stop for a moment you realise that the difference between your normal routine and your quarantine routine is that in the second one there is nothing unpredictable (in a positive sense) that will break it. There is no friend calling you to go for a coffee. There is no difference between a week day or a weekend. There is no event or trip to be planned. There is no night you go out until late and sleep half of the next day. It’s a steady rhythm of sleeping and waking up at the same times, of doing the same things everyday or every two days. Where is the break? What was actually the usual break? The answer: the people you can’t see at the moment…
I was never really the spontaneous kind of person, I always liked to plan things. But the moment you realise that you are just on your own, that you can decide whatever you want to do (within the restrictions) whenever you want to do it, that you don’t have to rely on anyone and that there is no one that can cross your plans with other proposals, you suddenly feel that you are missing the inconstant of human beings in your “perfect” routine. And you notice that actually it’s the imperfection that gives a natural balance to your life. But now, not much seems very natural anymore, not much seems very human anymore.
Some days ago I’ve heard an older woman talking to a younger one exactly about this. That we are loosing our humanity. In addition to all the “keep distance” restrictions people are slowly freak out. I mean I have been listening to the radio a lot these days and apart from the fact that I’m freaking out because of listening the same “corona-comments” and the same “quarantine-advertisements” every day, I’m also freaking out because of the news I hear lately about peoples behaviour. Why does a young men threaten an old lady by telling her he has the virus and will pass it on to her? Why does a doctor make a legal complaint against a patient for passing him on the virus, but after a test proves that the patient doesn’t even have the virus? Why are tourists now making a common legal complaint against Tirol because they think they got infected during their skiing holidays (or should I rather say “après-skiing” holidays)? What is wrong with people? Is there really nothing better to do and nothing better to think of than making this whole situation worst? Nothing better than to blame others for (maybe) their own mistakes? To blame a region or a country that in my opinion (compared to others) reacted fast to this whole situation? Even with so much time for ourselves at the moment, people seem not even taking a second to think about the consequences of their irrational behaviour…
So please! Whatever kind person you are at the moment and even though you want to blame the whole world for this inhuman situation, take a breath to think. We are somehow all in the same boat, we all have to find ways to lead with this situation, to lead with our angriness, our sadness, our fears, and all our energy. So let’s keep our humanity and let’s be there for each other as much as we can instead of complicating each others life.
“If you have the power to make someone happy, do it. The world needs more of that.”
Lena C.