Day 250: Five Side Effects to the Quarantine

1. Sitting behind a computer, doing the same routine while staying at home every day affected my memory. It was odd. With less to really think about, I couldn’t focus or remember the things that I really needed to remember. I missed a couple of appointments. People would tell me something one day and the next time I saw them I would ask them about the same subject. As things have started opening and I have more things to work on and think about, the memory is coming back to normal. Which isn’t to say that it’s great, but it’s not embarrassingly terrible.

2. Time has seemed to slowly fly by. That kind of feeling happens a lot throughout our lives at different moments. I hear parents experience that...like...forever after they have a child. Long days, short years. Sound familiar? Anyway, the first two months of quarantine felt like walking in quicksand. No, it was like swimming underwater in quicksand with a long tube that extended to the top for air. I knew I would survive, but I knew it was going to be a long road. As a teacher, I worked from home and still work from home for summer school, but even that didn’t seem to be enough to fill the days. There were many moments where I couldn’t remember what day it was. But we’ve made it. Kind of.

3. The amount of television/movies/shows that I watch on a daily basis has skyrocketed. It used to be around an hour at the most on a weekday: some tv in the morning during breakfast and something at night to fall asleep. Now, it’s a good hour in the morning, half an hour in the afternoon, and possibly a few more hours at night. That isn’t every day, but it has been more days than I can remember. Because of this excessive screen viewing, my minutes behind a book have dropped off to next to nothing. I understand that I making these choices and can’t blame a virus. But once I find myself in a routine, it’s hard to break.

4. On a positive note, I had a lot of time to learn the piano and play the guitar more. I did not become good enough to play an hour set for a bar audience, but I did get better. And during this time of building my skills, I finally allowed myself to enjoy the act of learning for the sake of just getting a little bit better each day, instead of comparing myself to people that can actually play instruments well. I enjoy the act of playing so much more, even when I struggle.

5. The quarantine has given me the time to organize my life, my thoughts, and my goals. I don’t think that I have ever felt more confident in the next steps of my life. I don’t ever expect my vision to match up with reality, but it is nice to have a plan. And also to have a backup plan. And being able to accept when neither of those things works out. It’s just nice to have some ducks in a row right now to help my future self get to where he is going by building a foundation.

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Author's Note #1: I may go crazy if we have to do this again in the fall.

Author's Note #2: Going crazy might be fun. I've always wanted to go crazy and write about it.

Author's Note #3: I realize that my posts have been lacking the Author's Notes recently. I don't want to detract attention from the hopeful effects of poems. But I will do my best for the rest of the rants.