My Life in Quarantine

Amidst the lockdown and social distancing norms, many people have become master chefs while many have reconnected with old friends online. Some have found the much needed time with family while some are having a real struggle with kids. We asked people about their life in quarantine and lockdown. Here is what some people had to say:

“Covid-19 is the world war we are all fighting, except we have a common enemy – THE VIRUS. I heard somewhere war has a way of blurring lines and changing our definition of certain circumstances. It makes us face our fears and muster the courage we never knew we had. Such was our experience with it. 

We (me, my husband and my 3 year old son) were on the brink of a new life. We (almost) bought a new house in the suburbs and were looking forward to moving there. Renovation plans, visualizing a happy family roasting marshmallows on the fire pit, home decor shopping and other fun stuff was on the list. And then uncertainty descended. 

Unsure whether the banks and real estate offices would work, we didn’t know what to do. Taking it one day at a time seemed to be our only option. Worse case – we don’t get to close our new house, stay for a few more months in our rental and then depending on how the situation is – we can take it from there. 

Faith in God and gratitude in our hearts, we decided to finish packing up our stuff and confirmed our move to the movers. We stayed with a friend for a few days until we were able to sort our finances and complete other legal formalities required to close on our house. Things happened. Good things happened. Everything worked at the nick of time. The day after we signed our papers, the real estate company shut down due to Covid-19. The movers told us that our move was their last one and all further appointments were cancelled. Everything and everybody was officially on a lockdown.

There we were – in a new house, with boxes and all our things in the garage and no beds to sleep on. We didn’t want the movers to come inside the house, even if it meant that me and my husband would have to do a bunch of heavy lifting later on. Our first night in the house was on the floor of our living room, using a baby blanket as a sheet and our jackets as a blanket. my rolled up sweater as a pillow for the little one. But we were safe and together. Did I mention it was the 3rd week of March and freezing outside? I will remember that night forever. There was a sense of safety and security even though hell was breaking loose on the outside. 

As days unfolded, new problems surfaced in our newly bought house. Some of them included leakages in all bathrooms, leaks through the ceiling very close to the electric lines, the absence of a washer-dryer and a few more. This meant we would have to call someone home to fix it since it is outside our skill set. With the number of people affected due to coronavirus rising and everyone living in isolation, we did not want the risk of an infected person in our house fixing things. Still with all our faith in the higher power and thankfulness in our hearts for everything else we had, we called a handyman to take care of it. He was a wonderful guy who had a family and understood the risks involved. He took all precautions and worked his magic to make our house livable again. No washer dryer!! No Problem!!! A couple of buckets, two hands and the bathtub did the job. Every second day hand washing clothes was on the agenda. But it was such a wonderful family time. Later, we hired another wonderful person to install our washer, dryer and refrigerator. We were constantly blessed with good and cautious people to workout things for us.

Throughout the whole mess, and hearing unfortunate stories around the world, one can’t help but think if things could have gone worse. YES, of course it could have been worse. But we survived. We made the best of what we had and are still grateful for how everything turned out for us. Every little achievement has the power to motivate you to move forward with best hopes for the future. 

Who thought that a pandemic like this would take over our lives and put us all in a lockdown. The beauty of testing times is that it pushes us to be brave and forces us to learn something about imperative changes. It shows us how much we as human beings are consumed in our daily lives and what is really important. Personally, I have learnt so much about myself and my family – something I wouldn’t have known for a few more months or years. 

I sincerely hope mankind rises through the ashes like a phoenix and makes progress towards a better life, a healthier planet without losing vision on what kind of a world we leave behind for our children. Time to go grocery shopping armed with gloves and mask because that is the NEW normal.”

— Kate

“People usually go out to play with their dogs. We do the same, but with our cats. You know, during these quarantine days, it could be challenging to find tasks outdoors. But we spent one morning walking around the park, picking up all sorts of garbage – snack packages, cans, bottles and plastic bags. Yeah, the whole family. One-shot, two targets: we had a great (and safe) time together, practicing gratitude.”

— Marco Tota Novaes

“This Pandemic has proved to me that everything around us is so temporary. I realized that gyms, work, leisure activities and society are things we are learning to live without. I am happy to be spending this time with my family and at home where it is safe. I moved to Toronto last December and now I am back in Bermuda where my parents live, to be with my family during these hard times. While everything has slowed down and we are not sure what is coming next, I have taken this time to appreciate what we do have and to see the good in the bad. While in  quarantine, I have spent my time discovering new skills and finding projects to do. I have a boat that is currently out of the water and in my backyard. I love going on it and enjoying some fresh air because that is the closest thing I can do that relates to being at the beach or on the water which I love. I have been spending some quality time with my parents and little sister; We play games, watch movies and take our puppy for walks just in the church parking lot next to our house. I keep in touch with friends and other family members through video calls and have been eating SO much! But I find time to do workouts at home to keep fit and active. Although it would be great to be outside and enjoy the sun, right now it’s about keeping safe. I pray that everyone is doing well and those who are going through hard challenges, may you overcome them and remain patient. Let’s be positive because this will pass and we will resume our daily lives just how we used to before. “

Jennifer Parra

“In the first week of social distancing, I had been reading all the bad news about COVID-19 and worrying myself to death. I had trouble sleeping until I decided to progress in my meditation journey. Before quarantine I couldn’t stick to my meditation routine because I felt that I didn’t have the time. So this time I took the opportunity and created a more consistent routine: at least 5 minutes before getting up and 5 minutes before going to sleep. Starting from baby steps, I believe I can achieve my goal eventually – at least one 30-minutes session everyday. If you haven’t tried meditating, I sincerely urge you to do so because it is such an amazing practice for the brain. Going back to meditation, I have been able to release all the tension in my head and have better sleep at night. It helps increase attention and awareness too. I have become more productive when it comes to work and I can read without any distraction. It feels amazing! More importantly, I have a more clear vision of my mind than ever before. I am still surprised at how much I have grown after doing meditation.  For me, it took one month to see improvement because it is very hard at the beginning but it is completely worth it. Now I am ready to take it to the next level and increase my session time to 10 minutes. What do you think of the challenge? Would you be interested in having your own meditation journey? If you do have one please share! I would love to hear that. By sharing this, I hope this will help anyone who is going through the same problem as me. It’s a difficult time but we must stay strong and keep looking up. We will all get through this. Best wishes to everyone.” 

— Maria Chen

“Covid or Cold cure? Check this out!!! Yesterday, I may have had covid or the beginning of a cold. I am unsure. When I usually get a cold I feel a scratchiness in my throat. At that moment I take a vitamin C 500mg. And I usually avoid getting the cold. During the night, I was coughing from my chest. In the morning my body told me it was covid. Since I was never tested. I decided to believe it was a cold. So I took two Vitamin C, 4 hrs apart and ate two guavas, one the night before and in the morning and a bowl of pineapple. My cold or covid-19 left me. I felt it die, whatever it was. I felt great, I stopped coughing and my nasal passages are clear. I looked up the health benefits of Guava, it’s loaded with vitamins. Please pass this on.”

— Kalpana Motiram

“I am a mother of two kids and a homemaker. Before quarantine, my life was super busy and so is now but the difference is earlier it was always about and around kids but now I can take out time for myself as my husband takes care of our kids. The time he used to spend in commuting to office is dedicated to kids now and I use that time to do what I love – Art, Painting, Crafts, Paper Quilting, origami, candle making, chocolate making and many more. I am happy that I can finally catch up on my hobbies that I have always loved and missed. 

I have discovered that sitting together and eating, which was a luxury before, has taken my love for cooking a level up. Me and my husband love socializing which we do miss because of the lockdown and social distancing. I really hope and pray our beautiful world gets rid of the virus and each one of us who is suffering gets healthy.

I am sure this too shall pass and we will once again live in a world where we will stop taking little  pleasures for granted. Stay safe and stay at home everyone .

YOLO!”

— Deepika Mehanti

If you too have discovered a newer self, please feel free to share in the comment section. We would love to read your ‘My life in Quarantine’ story. 

Blog Image Credit:  Alexey Hulsov from Pixabay

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