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If anything good can be said about this pandemic, it’s that it is making us slow down. As a country, the United States’ population is always racing here and there with our double-booked schedules. Now we’re forced to stop and smell the roses and hope a bee doesn’t sting us.
Being stuck at home, relationships have the potential to be deepened or stressed. You get to know people when you’re trapped in a house with them.
Another thing is you get to see the importance of friendship. We’re designed for relationships. Even just seeing them on video can lighten our day. I’m not a natural hugger; I hug back. My wife is the hugger. But when this is over, I’m going to hug a lot of people.
One side effect of this isolation and solitude is people have to confront themselves. The average attention span is allegedly seven seconds. When we inevitably get bored because we’ve exhausted our options, the introspection will begin.
We’ll look in the mirror and ask ourselves these questions:
“Am I just my _________?”
“Does being an essential employee mean expendable?”
“What is my purpose?”
“Who am I?”
“What if I get sick and die? Is that the end of me?”
I can only watch so much Netflix, and believe it or not, I hit my limit reading at some point. It takes a day for me to go stir crazy.
We’re bored, but I think about the Old West. Their closest neighbor was miles away. They were alone, or with their family, just surviving. There were no phones, TV, or the internet.
I wonder how we’d fare now if we lost all electronics.
Either way, we’re slowing down and getting to know ourselves again. And when it’s over, we’ll reintroduce ourselves.
A Ronin's Journey 