JUST A THOUGHT

This quarantine thing, it’s something unlike anything we have ever seen before in this magnitude. On a much smaller scale, I remember when I was a kid and we were quarantined at home for three weeks because my mother and brother had scarletina.

Three weeks seemed like a lifetime then. In today’s world, that was nothing. The biggest difference is that we knew when and how it would end. Today, perhaps the scariest part, is not having those answers.

But, it’s not all bad. OK, OK, I know you all want to jump down my throat right about now. But, before you throw me under the bus, give me a couple minutes. My heart and prayers go out to everyone who is missing something through this, which is basically everyone. Besides the health scare, there is the HUGE economic impact on everyone and everyone’s world is turned upside down, everywhere you turn there are hardships of some sort.

We are all scared, as a nation and as a world. Disregarding all other differences, we are all in this together. I am scared too. But (there is always a but), I have been accused of being an eternal optimist before. I have always believed that, even in the worst times, there was always a little good and vice versa. With that thought in mind, here goes.

We have all heard the saying that we can have time or money but not both at the same time. Money is tight now with folks losing their jobs because of the closures, stock prices are falling…finances are uncertain. Time is a different story. We all have this big chunk of time that we can either use or lose.

I don’t know how many times I have complained because kids, and us adults, are always on our electronic devices. Families can hardly go out to eat and enjoy each other’s company; each of them would be on their phone texting someone else. The irony of this is that, if they were with the person that they were texting, they would be still be texting someone else. It seems like we are never happy just being in the moment.

Lately, we look at social media differently. We are social by nature and this quarantine, though necessary, has cut us off from relatives, friends and, literally, the world. If it weren’t for social media, we would have no contact. It’s amazing how our perspective changes when our circumstances change.

I have a friend who is a pharmacist. She said that the other day, kids actually came into the pharmacy looking for puzzles. Did you ever think that we would see the day when kids of today would tire of being on their phones…and puzzles, really? Some things do come full circle.

Maybe, too, social distancing has actually brought us closer together as families. Up until this crisis, most of us were not living true to the definition of a family, “a group consisting of parents and children living together in a household.” The key word here is living, most of us weren’t living as a family, but rather we were co-existing.

How many of us did this scenario fit: one child is off to a sports practice, another is hanging out at a friend’s house, Dad is working late and Mom is doing errands. Instead of the exception, this had become the norm in our world. We have all become so busy. Busy is good, being engaged is good, but not at the cost of replacing all family time.

Growing up on the farm, most of us kids’ free time was spent on the farm because there was always something to do. However, there was one steadfast rule: we were all expected to attend Sunday dinner…no exceptions. Today, how many families actually eat a meal together? The norm has become more “grab and go” which is why the closing of restaurants has hit us so hard.

It is hard to cook a meal when everyone is on a different time schedule. It has been so much easier to grab something at the drive-through, whether you are on your way home from work, on the way to practice or just general coming and going. Even when families are together, it’s just easier to “go out.”

Maybe now is the time to rediscover the joy of cooking together and enjoying meals together again. Dig in that pantry and discover new dishes with what’s on hand, resurrect some old family recipes and relish actually tasting the food instead of the usual “gulp and go.” Who knows, we may even decide that the family dinner table isn’t so bad after all and going out to eat will again become what it is supposed to be, a treat instead of just a quick meal solution.

I can hear some of your thoughts now, “We have been doing things together. The whole family goes to the son’s (daughter’s, grandchild’s) basketball game, baseball game, band concert, dance recital or other event.” Yep, pretty much true, but are we really together for the event. We all rush around from the day’s activities to get to the event on time, the child is performing and the rest of the family is in the stands and afterwards everyone rushes home to do chores and get ready for the next day…not exactly family time.

Time is our most precious commodity; you can never buy any more of it. You have what you have. I don’t know how often I have wished for a little down time to do something I wanted to do. Now is that time. Yep, stuck at home, we all can be totally bored or choose to turn this unfortunate place we are at into a gift.

One young lady that I know is doing just that. Maggie is a very enlightened, ambitious young teen who is being very creative with her “gift” of time. An up and coming writer herself, she is writing articles and staying connected through social media with her friends that share like interests in her writing club. She is very creative and is using this time to start new projects.

This little gal has inspired me. She knows that now is the time to delve into a couple projects rather than wasting this precious gift. I will be digging into a couple things that I have had on the back burner. Maybe there is a lesson here for all of us, kudos to her.

In another case of irony, while surfing Netflix the other night, we found something that was both unusual and also refreshing. In a time when we are all urged to “shelter at home,” we found Leon Logothetis who is a world traveler. We watched his memoir “The Kindness Diaries” in which he documents his travels from Alaska to Argentina in a 1971 Volkswagen Beetle that he named Kindness Two.

He travels with no money and no food and relies on the kindness of people he meets along the way to open their hearts and homes to him in acts of kindness. He meets some incredible people on his journey who are trying to help others in turn. Being also a philanthropist, he aids these folks in their ventures.

What an incredible find at this trying time. His underlying message throughout is that kindness gives us hope so we don’t feel alone. How appropriate is that, not only for now, but all time!

I am so heartbroken for all the seniors who are missing their senior year, for all the sports teams who have lost what they have worked so hard for, for all the folks whose jobs are uncertain through no fault of their own, for everyone who is suffering in one way or another.

But, in light of that, the optimist in me has hope. Hope that maybe the world doesn’t need to be as large as it has become, that there are adventures in our own backyard that we can explore; that family can be just as exciting and loving and cool to be around as our friends; that we don’t need to always race through life; that kindness can still move mountains.

I hope that when this scourge passes, as it will, that our new normal will always include this new, good place that we are just re-discovering. I hope that part lasts a long time.