Navigating The Challenges of Quarantining at Home
By Alai Landa
Photograph by Mariel Wiley
I think I’m doing my best at accepting change and facing this new path in front of me. I feel like a lot of people around me - or even those observable on media- have had major life plans totally derailed. It’s almost a feeling of being yanked out of the sky by a leash we hadn’t been totally aware of. Personally, I was driven to leave my dream school I had worked so hard for and move back home 3 months into a year-long stay. Now I am here, with no clear plan to go back, but I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing.
For those of us brought back home after finally getting out into the world of independence, we’re now facing the dynamics of our family lives. Possibly something we’d been running from knowingly or unknowingly. For those who had been on the verge of soaring, everyday may feel hopeless and mistaken. But I believe there are no mistakes. Of course, we can’t control what’s happening around us, but we do have control over how we react. What is this time showing you that you wouldn’t have experienced otherwise? What is it teaching about you, your family, life, or plans?
I feel like I’ve been so eager to go as far and high as I could. I never thought I was running from anything, but I was spending months out of the country every chance I got. When I decided to come home, I was relieved to not be an ocean apart from my loved ones. Relieved to stop waking up to Earth shattering news every morning while legally mandated to not leave my apartment unless it was to take out the trash, buy food, go to the bank, or walk the dog.
However, being here has been a deeply transformative experience I did not expect. I was faced with the old images of myself I felt I had outgrown while far away. Expectations I had forgotten and left unattended. I began to really understand the challenge I was set to deal with, yet I was grateful for it. Although painful and pressure-bearing, these forced reflections teach that which we may have avoided a long long time. I see it as being called down to our foundations to inspect for any cracks for weak points before building atop it. Understanding and becoming aware of wounds that may have otherwise festered and continued to infect new additions to our lives had we remained unaware.
We have been pulled out of the sky in a sense, it’s a grounding which holds the potential to prepare us for even greater flight. To the best of your abilities, try to take some time for reflection on what patterns, wounds, dynamics, and/or emotions this quarantine highlights and allow yourself to lean into that. Without judgement or hatred try to identify what role you play in the patterns which hurt you. Maybe identify a way you could approach it differently or change the narrative within yourself, and therefore in waking life.
This time of uncertainty and unpredictability has undoubtedly affected every single one of us. I believe that the best we can do for ourselves and those around us is to learn from and release that which we cannot control and embrace the opportunity to fine tune that which we can. At this point in time, the slate has been cleared. Economy, politics, recreation, and even social norms are up in the air right now. Because of this, many forces around the world are hoping to rewrite the story; influence the rebuild in their favor. All these narratives coming through on our phones, TVs, and maybe even our families cause a fear and anxiety within us which can be debilitating.
However divisive information may be, Love is unchanging. The most powerful thing we can do right now is to protect our minds and focus on something True to us. Dedicate time for yourself in which you can re-center and connect to whatever makes you feel grounded. Isaac Newton created calculus, discovered the 7 visible colors of the electromagnetic spectrum, and developed his theory on gravity during quarantine for the plague. Victor Hugo wrote Les Misérables during exile. Frida Kahlo painted her first self portrait during recovery after her horrific car accident. These examples aren’t meant to ask you to be “productive”, but to demonstrate a possibility to go deep within yourself during a unique time where you aren’t expected anywhere else. You don’t have to produce anything to show for it. Dedicate time to remember Love. Allow yourself to dream a new dream. A dream not possible before.