You are allowed to be happy even when there is a pandemic
Mar 19, 2020
Although I am socially isolating, I'm doing my best to stay in touch with people. More than one person has said that they were kind of feeling cozy and enjoying being at home. In such a difficult time, there’s a bit of guilt that goes along with enjoying this time of isolation. Because although isolating can be challenging—even harrowing—the truth is that for some, it's not all bad.
Let me acknowledge that it is quite bad for many. Some who isolated folks are working with depression and anxiety and isolation is the wrong recipe for being well.
And the people who are suffering with the actual virus and their families, times are tough. Also, for people who are not able to socially isolate because we need them. We can all send our gratitude and our support and our care to the sick and the people on the front lines, especially in health care. But all over, people are working in jobs because we need them, and they cannot be safe at home.
But there are a whole lot of us who are at home—whether we work at home all the time or we have made the decision to stay at home or our workplaces have been shut down—there are a lot of us isolating right now.
It’s okay to enjoy it. To revel in the quiet. To have time to cook and talk and play games and read and knit and exercise and laugh and tell jokes and create quizzes to visit on Zoom or WhatsApp or to write that book or to meditate or to relax into stillness and watch the stars.
This is a great time to love one another, to laugh and to do our best to make this time together count.
We’re already here: stressing and worrying isn’t going to help a thing. But laughing and loving? That helps everything.
Now is the time to get creative and get connected.
My family is planning a formal-wear dinner for Saturday. And we’ve invited guests by Zoom. My son is creating quizzes with trivia questions for our family. My daughter is excited about her at-home school space. She started a list called “The Best Books I’ve Read.”
What will you do now? How will you get through this time? Who will you be through it?
We’re going to do a lot of sitting around together: it’s time to get good at it.
