These days, it feels like everything is about quarantine. Hell, even this article is. Every Snapchat, Instagram, Tiktok, computer screen, Zoom mishap, and street is covered in the remembrance that the world is not normal. None of this is normal. Isolation and online learning and grocery store aisles set up like games of Pacman are not normal. But they’re what we got, for now.
Staying at home with only your family for company (if that) can feel a bit depressing, especially for those who already have chronic depression and anxiety. Activities are limited. Interactions are suggested to be avoided unless 6-feet apart. But it’s important to remember that the world won’t be like this forever. The world might be different, sure. But there are plenty of things to look forward to.
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Seeing friends in person. Physically feeling them.
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Sitting in a restaurant or cafe to eat. Literally just the change in scenery and food.
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Driving. Feeling safe enough to get out of the car. Even if just to take a picture of a pretty sunset I go by.
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Putting on workout clothes and going to the gym. Seeing a room of mirrors and bulky exercise equipment and feeling shamed into trying harder than I would at home. Feeling tired but somehow glowing afterward, accomplished and smiling.
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Large bodies of water. Pools. Lakes. Beaches. The way that sunlight sticks to your skin when wet.
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Long talks with family members you only see once a year or so. A million questions about “how is college going?” all with similar answers. Watching the children run around, boundless. Feeling together.
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Seeing a movie in theaters. Still leaving a seat between myself and other strangers in the row (like always). Eating buttery popcorn out of the bag with my fingers.
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Going to work. My heels hurting from standing after the first few hours. Joking with co-workers. My voice raising three octaves when I address a customer.
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Having new episodes of my favorite TV shows air on TV, even if I can’t always find time to watch them. Especially when I can’t.
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Making plans. Any type of plans. Knowing what’s going to happen in the future. Being able to look in my calendar and say “yeah, I can do that.” Being able to look forward to things that I’ve planned without worrying that they’ll all go away.
There are pieces I’m going to miss about this quarantine. Being so close to my family. Having one last great summer at home, after I thought last summer was the end. But I am getting antsy. I’m only human. There are things that I want in life that quarantine can’t give me. Things I never thought I would need to miss.