We slept that night and everything was fine in the world, in our lives, in everything we do, waking up the next day as prisoners!
In a blink of an eye our whole lives turned upside down, we were forced to practice social distancing; suddenly everything that lay beyond our front door became an existential threat. Before this lock-down, people were living a very loud and fast life, racing for money and success, driven by the shallow temptations of life, leaving behind the morals and values of what really matters.
The lock-down lasted more than the actual quarantine period (known for 40 days) changing all the previous fun habits known to people. Saturdays turned from being the ultimate clubbing nights to calm and quite evenings with close family members baking some cookies and watching a family TV show. Sundays weren’t about spending the day skiing or tanning at the beach anymore; in fact they became days to explore Mother Nature, breathe some fresh air and get exposed to the beauty that lies beyond the virtual realities that are so called cellphones. Weddings, birthdays and funerals turned out to be regular days that could be accomplished with the presence of close family members only.
In a blink of an eye people formed a new habit of being alone and some were really enjoying it. Going out to the supermarket or meeting up with a relative became quite uncomfortable. People created their own comfort zone that whenever someone tries to breaks it they panic. Future plans became inconvenient; going back to pre-quarantine life seemed to be just an illusion, this isolation caused the decrease level of hematocrit, calcium and phosphorus levels in our bodies, also the decrease level of circulating cell-free genomic DNA and circulating cell-free mitochondria DNA, which are indicators of psycho-physical stress in humans. Anxiety played a major role in everyday life and one question was circulating in people’s mind; what’s going to happen next?
On the other hand, people started to discover themselves, their talents and the things they’re good at, or wanted to do just didn’t have the time to do them, some became quite good at cooking, others learned a new musical instrument, and some took advantage of this period of time to heal their souls and find peace in their lives. People became more aware of what’s going on, had deeper thoughts, and most importantly they became more grateful for the things they have but never had the chance to appreciate because they were too busy dealing with that loud shallow life that they didn’t pay attention to anything else.
This lock-down was definitely changing the world on all aspects, some viewed it only by its negative results and never had the chance to take a moment and enjoy the calmness of human beings, or how people were more engaged with nature, how social life was changing to be more simple and more real, and most importantly how this quarantine was an eye-opener on the things that really mattered in life, and things that never did.
