I know I said I was sick of talking about COVID-19 and quarantine in general, but that’s really all there is to talk about these days. You can’t help but wonder what life is going to be like after the pandemic, such as the impending baby boom or how schools will have to adjust to the transition back from online to traditional schooling. You start to understand the severity of the situation that we find ourselves in today and the change it has brought to us as quarantine drags on, at least if you haven’t already. For me, I never truly realized how much the quarantine had affected me until I had my birthday yesterday. I turned 18, so that made it even more special. Of course, I still managed to do my usual traditions—we got delivery from the restaurant we usually go to for my birthday along with other things—but it was still somewhat of a bummer because even though I’m not one for doing a whole lot of something for my birthday, there’s the fact that if it weren’t for quarantine I could have.

The possibility of doing something is so exciting, and since you aren’t able to reach many of these possibilities because of what’s going on, it makes you antsy. Then you start to think it’s okay to go outside for a non-essential reason and hang out with friends because you want to do something. I’ve already talked about why we should stay inside in another column, so I don’t want to dwell on that point too much in favor of talking about something else: plan what you’re going to do after this is all over. It’s not a bad thing to make a list of things you want to do once you’re able to, no matter how grand of an action it may be. In fact, if it’s one of the few things that keep you sane or even motivated to stick this quarantine out, then I very much encourage you to do it. 

There’s no grand opinion I want to make here. I guess it could be said that I want other people to know that they aren’t the only ones desperate for this to end. All we can do is try our best to flatten the curve while also preserving our own energy and sanity. I think that the more people do this, the less time we have to dream of what we could be doing.