We should not be left to our own devices

Imagine, if you will, one day you are told not to come to work. You are told not to go to school. You are told to close all the businesses. You are told to stay home.

Sounds like a holiday? Maybe this is the eternal vacation?

You can do whatever you want as long as you do it by yourself.

Wake up whenever you want. Don’t worry about personal hygiene because no one is going to see you (or smell you). Wear the same clothing everyday. Binge watch movies on the couch gorging on whatever is in the refrigerator.

Sounds good for a while until the thrill wears off.

 Our species are social creatures and not engaging with another person becomes lonely. We organize our day by working with others, sharing meals and swapping stories. Our lives are fulfilled with interacting with others.

You can’t shake the hand of someone on the computers screen. A phone call can’t give a hug. Commenting on social media or email becomes redundant.

So after reading all the books and viewing all the movies do we take up exercising or changing our diet or learning a new skill. After all the DIY chores are done do we break them to make some more? Gardening is a diversion but what happens when it snows? How often can the closet be rearranged?

If we are lucky enough to be quarantined with family, how long before you want to play hide and seek and don’t go looking? When does planning three meals a day for the little ones in between trying to teach them calculus and entertaining them with board games and pictures books until you turn to the television to babysit? When does walking the dog become a relief to get out of the house instead of a chore?

Some have said, “I never have enough time.”

Well now you do.

Musicians can write music that no one else can listen to. Authors can write the Great American novel only to post it online for free. Hobbies like sewing or knitting or woodworking can become obsessive until you run out of materials or space to put them.

Even sex loses it thrill after time.

It is surprising that with cheap gas and little traffic there are not more people making road trips, but there is nothing open. Pizza delivery will be a cherished moment worth waiting for. A load of laundry may take a week to fold.

We are bored.

This is when we start getting into trouble. All the little things we thought about but were too extracted with life, become passions and with the help of cell phones can become a movement.

What is that bump on your arm? Check it out on the Internet and then call the emergency room with your self-diagnosis. The car is running rough to DIY and tinkers under the hood until the car won’t start. Try a new recipe but forget some of the steps while checking your phone and wind up poisoning your family and starting a fire in your kitchen.

Move deeper into philosophical thoughts and all hell breaks loose. Assemble without a permit and say whatever you want because we have the ‘freedom of speech’ with no consideration on whom else it might offend. Wonder why statues to losers that have been tolerated for years are still there? Get upset by those in uniform try to keep order as anarchy reins. Arise again the discrepancy of race that has lasted for over 400 years.

Perhaps this is the new revolution of awareness or just something else for social media, but there still is no work, no restaurants, no sports, no travel, etc.

There is still plenty of fear of the unknown.