Joy in Quarantine
Well, well.
QUARANTINE
Word of the year
Are you able to find any joy in quarantine? Here I mean the lifestyle that grounds you at home, not the terrifying pandemic that we all hope to end soon. No matter your answer is yes or no, my story as follows suggests one way to live through quarantine, and hopefully, infuses some joy into your stay-at-home time.
I have been through, not one, not two, but three quarantines. If you look at the geopolitical development of coronavirus, you will see how I hit each escalation point perfectly: first in China when it initially broke out. Then stuck in Vancouver coz of the travel ban. Finally made my way back to the U.S., and the story you all know. At least now when my mom calls, she no longer nags me about quitting my job to do a PhD. Her demand now is much simpler, just do nothing.
Sometimes yeah quarantine sucks. But part of me is secretly enjoying it, not as in silver-lining, bittersweet joy that we trick ourselves into believing, but a genuine feeling that I’m kind of glad to have a chance to live like this.
Before you think I’m a sociopath, let me tell you my take on this.
Have you ever dreamed of having a superpower? The superpower I want the most is the one that let you freeze time and be the only one who can move around freely. I want it so badly not because I want to rob the bank, but because there is always so much to do but so little time.
Now cities in shutdown, businesses in limbo. The world’s hit the pause button. This time-freezing superpower I dreamed of suddenly becomes a reality. With all the distractions and interference cut off, I finally have some time at my disposal.
During my first quarantine in China, I found myself, first time in a long while, able to curl up on the couch the whole afternoon to just read. It took me five days to finish two books, which is twice as much as what I read in 2019.
As for now, 8th week into working remotely, I guess because my gym and I are just as far apart as my living room and my bedroom, I’m finally getting rid of some holiday fat. Just last Friday, I finished a 11-week machine learning course which I attempted but failed to finish so many times before. That brings about my biggest joy in quarantine.
Not only does time freezing become possible, “bank-robbing” is also legalized. Many great resources are now made free to the general public in light of the quarantine new normal. For example, the online learning platform Udacity, whose membership normally costs $400 a month, is now offering one month free. The international publisher Springer has released hundreds of free books on topics of science and technology. Not so long ago, the iconic musical “The Phantom of the Opera” was also streaming for free on YouTube. The list of banks to rob goes on. No more time constraint. No more knowledge barrier. I’ve never felt more superpowered.
When we feel no need to be somewhere else, no fear of missing out, quarantine is creating the exact environment we need when we want to accomplish something: solitude, discipline, concentration. It’s forcing us to embark a detoxing journey that’s painful at first but rewarding in the end. It’s forcing us to remember that secret project, that shelved hobby, and that goal long forgotten. It’s forcing us to carry on our life with positivity and perseverance despite of obstacles.
World will be different post pandemic. So will people. We will become our better self as we turn a lemon into lemonade. That is the ultimate joy in quarantine.
