5 Ways to Reframe the Quarantine

Also Read: 5 Good Things About the Coronavirus

This is crazy, right? What is happening? The panic is scarier than the virus itself. I feel like I’m in the movie Outbreak, and any second Renee Russo is going to knock on my door in a yellow space suit, or the military is going to prevent me from going to the food store under threat of arrest. We are all saying the same. This is strange. This is surreal. This is unlike anything we’ve ever experienced. Are we doing the right thing by shutting down our schools, by closing colleges, by cancelling sporting events? Time will tell, though to be fair, in time, based on everything we know about strains of coronavirus, the contagion will end no matter what we do. I wonder if we are doing more harm than good, by not allowing the community to build up an immunity to it. What will we do next year, not have the kids go to school at all for four months? There is much we don’t know, so much speculation, so many opinions and theories. But, the fact is, schools are cancelled. Many people are working from home. It can feel dystopian if we let it. Don’t let it.

1. This is proactive, not reactive. The theory behind doing this is to protect the old and frail from getting sick with COVID-19. We are doing it in an attempt to not overwhelm the hospitals, who only have so many ICU beds and respirators on hand.

2. For families with school aged children, we are not keeping our kids home because we are overly concerned for their health and wellbeing. We are doing it to help others, and it is very important our kids, who already have too much to be anxious about, understand this.

3 We are not on lockdown. We can go to the store. We can go for walks or runs. We can play outside. The coronavirus is not a poisonous gas. Be outside as much as possible, and feel good about being there. It is good for your immune system and good for your mental health.

4. Look at this time at home as an opportunity, rather than as a punishment. Make it family time. Make it house repair time. Make it learn something new time. Just don’t make it stressed out, glued to the news, apocalyptic-thinking time.

5. When in doubt, throw gratitude at the situation. Be thankful we live in a country where everyone is valued enough to turn our world upside down to save lives. Be grateful for modern medicine which will save lives in the next few weeks, and for scientists who will eventually find a treatment and a vaccine. Appreciate a world with running water, the internet, Netflix and so much more which will keep us comfortable and entertained while we hit the pause button on our lives for a few weeks.

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