When Panic Becomes Mundane and What to Do With It.
Well it’s now day 4 of really “self quarantining” for me. I’ve had lots of slow times over the years, but this is by far the most helpless I’ve felt. I can’t go to the gym because it’s closed. I can’t go skiing because it’s closed. And I’m trying to limit the amount of wandering I do for the sake of furthering the social distancing. All of these were my go to distractions from slow times back in the days of “normal life.” So here I sit, playing way too many video games, watching way too many movies and shows, going for the occasional short run and doing what I can to maintain fitness and sanity. I’m also trying to resist the urge to stare at empty job boards or window shop online camera and gear sites that would suck away the emergency fund.
It’s been a crazy couple of shifts we’ve watched as this whole situation has progressed. First it was another foreign virus that was scary, yes, but more like a movie that didn’t effect us. Then came rumbles that it was coming to our shores, though, to what extent we didn’t know. This was followed by unguided, growing panic as people tried to grapple with an invisible unprecedented (in our lifetimes anyways) enemy. This confused uneasiness quickly manifested in the form of panic buying whatever items made people feel more secure; things like toilet paper, rice, broth, baking supplies and, of course, liquor. The jokes and memes online mingled with battling posts of “It’s all a government hoax” on one hand, and “We’re all going to die” on the other extreme, with most of us sitting bewildered and unsure somewhere in the middle. The panic reached a peak as sporting events were soon joined by concerts, clubs, bars and sit in restaurants as casualties of a socially spread invisible demon.
And now, as we all hunker down in our fortresses (prisons), panic has been replaced by an uneasy mundane as we wait for the shoe to lift and hope that the other one isn’t about to drop. Even the earth seems unsure of how to react, as our isolation has been matched with earthquakes and rainy, dreary, overcast weather.
I’ll admit that I have no idea how to react to all of this. My mind feels a bit suspended in limbo right now. But, in a strange way, it feels a bit like a chance for a fresh start. Perhaps this is a reset button reminder for all of us. A chance for all of us to respect how fragile life is. An unseen force brought us as a human race to a grinding halt, showing how we really are all in this together. And on the other side, whenever that is, we will be faced with a new world. This will be different. Or at least they should be. We can already see how nature is using this time to heal. Birds are returning in force, canals are running cleaner and clearer.
Personally, it feels like this is a chance for me to figure out what’s next in my life. If life is this fragile, why should I spend it “getting by” and hoping that another panic isn’t just around the corner, whether that be financially, health based or otherwise? It’s time to take some chances and start writing the next chapter. I hate sitting here in a forced state of stop, but I also can’t help but reflect on the fact that I wasn’t doing much “go” recently anyways. I want life on the other side of post panic mundane to be the best it ever has.
It’s time for the best life and I think this time of mandatory mundane is the perfect chance for self reflection and planning for the next chapter for all of us. I’m choosing to face isolation with determination. What comes next will be better. I firmly believe that. You should too.
- GALEN MURRAY -
VISUAL VAGABONDS Owner/DP
