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Savor This Time

The other day I told my wife that I like the stay-at-home lifestyle, the home isolation we are practicing. She was quick to tell me that I'm nuts. My wife is always right, and she may be right again. However, I have never claimed that I'm not, in fact, nuts.

Allow me to explain. Remove the variables of the virus; the sadness, the tragedy of it all. It is, of course, horrific, because every one of us is staring death in the eyes. This virus has us confronting our own mortality. I get that.

But here’s what I see outside of that. The earth is spinning slower, as there is less vibration being caused by humans. Fewer airplanes, fewer cars on the roads, fewer trains running, etc. We have stopped spinning. In normal every day life, we get stuck in a cycle of jumping out of bed, rushing off to work, coming home, and starting it all over again. And we think we're accomplishing something. But what are you really contributing? 

Now many of you work from home. You don’t have to get dressed, drive, or commute to a place. No dropping the kids at daycare. No crazy outside social life. No jet-setting. We're putting selfish on the shelf for a little while. 

Despite the separation and isolation, people are reaching out and staying in touch, asking how everyone is doing. There is more family time at home; playing games, being creative and putting learning in your own hands instead of relying on other people and other tools. When we walk by each other (six feet apart), we wave, we smile. We get outside more often for exercise. We notice the sun, the clouds, the moon and the stars. We video chat with our loved ones. We cook and eat at home more. We pray together. We help each other. Neighbors offer to do more for you. We are, in many cases, spending less money. We're fixing things, reorganizing, reevaluating. We're talking more. Some are getting to know our partners better with far greater compassion and empathy. We reflect more. Laugh a little. Cry a little. 

And we have a better awareness of our surroundings, because we don’t have all that extra stuff to keep us busy all the time. We are not fixated on sports, watching millionaires entertain us. We read more. We write more. Music fills our ears with happiness.

In many ways, when life returns to the way we've come to know it, I will be sad. Perhaps I’m alone in that thought. It's okay to slow down, to take the edge off, to be at home. This time reminds me of my childhood in the '60s. The '60s had its turmoil and stresses too, sure, but families were closer; church and community was more important; and a Sunday dinner together as a family was the best. 

Savor this time. Because when we come out of this, it will be business as usual and for a brief period of sacrifice, we will return to a world of speed and greed.

In the meantime, I'll look to John Lennon… "turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream."

George Kanganis