Quarantine Thoughts #1

[karanguni]

A couple of things have occurred to me as the rest of North America/Europe seems to be going mad self-quarantining: my life doesn't feel all that much different. Part of it is a fairly weak IRL social network where I have physically been the last little while, but more to the point it is this: living with your head on fire most of your adult life is excellent training for current times.

Anxiety about things I can't control? Yes, plenty of that. Feeling cooped up and trapped in a space as small as your own body? That, too! Having to split the difference between justifiable precautions and spiralling paranoia? Sure.

Many things are not the same, of course: the public health risks, the economic explosions on a macroscopic level, the careful balance between hoarding and stocking up, &c. But in some weird way, this feels like the world is normalising in the direction of the neuro-atypical, and all the posts on trying not to lose your mind when trapped indoors and managing your work-from-home life balance and anxiety sound like conversations that have gone on in my own head a million times before.

Comments

[morbane]

It's an interesting reflection!

[rosefox]

this feels like the world is normalising in the direction of the neuro-atypical

Yes! And the physically disabled, too. Suddenly we're all "homebound" and acutely aware of our dependence on others.

It hasn't been fun managing the last six months of epic stress over here, but it does mean we're all very well practiced in the tools we're going to need to manage the next ??? months of epic stress. Interacting with the rest of the world has changed, but my household is pretty much as it has been: soldiering on.

[momijizukamori]

Yeah, as a chronically tired introvert who mostly only leaves the house to go to work (and sometimes not even that), the only real change has been working from home ALL the time instead of just occasionally. I already do meal prep and only go grocery shopping once or twice a month, lol.

[lannamichaels]

Yeah, it's weird to me just how nothing in my life has changed except it being a little more difficult to get stuff through online shopping. I already work from home full time. I already barely leave the apartment. I already have anxiety. Hell, I already have OCD around handwashing. The world around me is going "!!!" and I'm like "?? yeah? this is typical?"

Although, one thing that has changed is an improvement: it's now a lot lot lot easier for me to "attend" events and lectures, since they've all moved online. It's all suddenly a lot more accessible to me!