It’s Amazing What You Don’t Get Accomplished During Quarantine

Amid all this covid craziness, my various social media feeds are full of an influx of quality pet content and a lot of opinions on what other people should be doing during all this social distancing.

I, as a frontline worker of a credit union, have been deemed essential, so I have been fortunate enough to not only work, but have limited contact with the public at the same time. Since I live with someone who is extremely at risk of dying if they contract covid-19, this is a distinction I value. Of course, since I’m the one going out that also means I’m resonspible for all of the grocery shopping, which is terrible for a bunch of other reasons, but I digress. I say all of this to say that I am aware that my self-isolation is different than many others’.

Mostly, I feel like my quarantine hasn’t been productive enough. I haven’t finished any blankets, I’m not sewing reuseable masks, I haven’t binged any of the shows I intended to binge, I have only read one book, and my living space is still a cluttered, unKondo’d mess. So my pandemic anxiety compounded on itself because not only am I bad at life in general, but now I’m bad at quarantine, which is an activity after my own introvert’s heart.

Just like that, my dreams of living in a cottage in the woods with just my books and cats shattered… before I reminded myself of some essential facts.

A person’s worth shouldn’t be tied to their productivity.

A person’s worth shouldn’t be tied to their productivity. That’s a capitalist idea that needs to be burnt and the ashes lockeed in a chest that’s chained and dumped into the Mariana trench.

Time well wasted isn’t just a Brad Paisley album.

Since your productivity doesn’t define your human worthiness, don’t let anyone-—including yourself—make you feel guilty for “wasting” time. Wasted time looks different for everyone. It could be losing time in a trash novel, playing candy crush for three straight hours, or maybe just sitting in the sunshine staring into space.

“It was time well wasted, and there’s no way I’d trade a few more dollars in my pocket I could’ve spent for a day I’ll never forget.”

Brad Paisley, Time Well Wasted

Hobbies don’t have to be a hustle.

If you are spending the current crises jobless and worried about how rent’s going to be paid, don’t feel bad that you’re knitting out your feelings without the intention of—gasp!—making money off your skills. Those “if you come out of quarantine without a hustle…” memes can die a fiery death.

You are NOT alone.

Sure, social distancing can be very isolating and exhausting, especially for introverts, but reach out when and how you can. I don’t talk on the phone and am terrible at responding in a timely manner to texts. But when I can feel myself slipping into dangerous territory, I have go-tos that help me hold on. Sometimes it’s as easy as some pet snuggles! Find out what works for you. Ground yourself, and talk to your tribe. You’re not an island.

“No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”

John Donne

These are good things, even after all this covid craziness fades into history. You aren’t what you do, and you don’t have to exist solely to make other people money. I personally won’t be steaming out of quarantine speaking perfect Spanish and whipping up dinners of fancy French cuisine, so don’t worry, you’re in good company.

“In all of living, have much fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured.”

Gordon B. Hinckley