Quarantine Adventures: Reinventing Ourselves Post-Pandemic
Image by Dariusz Sankowski @sankowski.it
With flight restrictions and closed borders due to COVID, travel has been extremely limited over the last year. It’s one of the things I miss the most! Whenever I visit another country, I make a deliberate and conscious effort to identify various aspects of the locale (ideas, traditions, foods, rituals, cultural values, etc.) which I can bring back and integrate into my life at home. It’s like creating a collage of emotional souvenirs from distant lands and different life experiences.
Stepping away from what is familiar is both the biggest challenge and the greatest reward of traveling to foreign places. It invites an opportunity to reinvent ourselves as we shift our perspectives and gain appreciation for other ways of living. It may also simply remind us what is most important and reinforce a deep sense of gratitude.
In some ways this past year, with COVID and quarantine, has been a foreign experience, a metaphorical journey to an uncharted territory and unknown world. Everything came to a sudden halt in ways most people have never seen before, and we were thrust into isolation, navigating uncertainty and invisible threat, and juggling new roles and responsibilities.
When stay-at-home orders were first announced in March of 2020, it felt surreal and frightening—a living “twilight zone.” No one knew what to expect, so we stocked up on toilet paper and non-perishables and prepared to hunker down at home for an undetermined amount of time. Initially the quiet and stillness was disorienting and distressing. We didn’t know what to do with ourselves. Eventually we adapted, for better or worse.
Now, as more people become vaccinated and we slowly approach the possibility of life post-pandemic, there are sentiments of ambivalence about resuming “normal” life again. While a number of people are itching to book travel, attend a concert, or gather a large group of friends for a celebratory dinner at a favorite restaurant, others seem more conflicted about how life will look and feel in this next chapter.
The good news is that rates of COVID and hospitalizations are on the decline, vaccines are becoming more widely accessible, and the economy is slowly beginning its recovery efforts. Yet, there is a subtle tone of reluctance as stay-at-home orders are lifted and we encounter another significant transition. Schools and businesses are reopening. The freeways are filling up. We can sense the pace of our daily routines ramping up again.
As we all prepare for reintegration into whatever the “real world” will look like after 2020, there is once again a sense of uncertainty. Re-entry can be an awkward and uncomfortable adjustment, even more so considering the social and political climate of the last year.
Questions proliferate: Are we really protected from the virus? How will our economy rebound? Will we feel safe to resume school/work in person? How will we balance the demanding schedules of work and social commitments once again? Will we find ourselves compromising our health or relationships in an effort to jump back in where we left off?
The reluctance and apprehension expressed in these sentiments regarding life after quarantine, reminds me of how I feel when I’m returning home after an impressionable travel experience. How can we ensure that any lessons or revelations from this experience do not diminish from our mind? How might we approach this transition with the deliberate intention to incorporate some of the things we’ve learned about ourselves, our relationships, and our world? How might we integrate some of the wisdom and perspective we’ve gained during the quarantine?
Questions to consider:
How have your values and priorities shifted through your experience of 2020?
What daily rituals, creative strategies, simple pleasures, new hobbies or exercise regimens would you like to maintain in the return to “normal life?”
How might you apply a customized hybrid approach to work, school, and/or social life?
What ways of connecting with partners, children, extended family or friends did you find meaningful and fulfilling? How will you continue that mode of connection?
What aspects of pre-COVID life have you missed the most, and how can you reintroduce or revise those activities?
The metaphorical journey of the last year has allowed us to travel within—within ourselves, our homes, and our intimate communities. It has been a time for exploration and introspection. For many, it has provided a much needed reset. With this clear slate, we have a unique opportunity to reevaluate and identify what we’ve learned during a challenging year and to redefine and mindfully choose how to approach our lives in the post-pandemic era.