Social distancing is the mantra being echoed around the world. My teaching practice had to close at the studio. Even if I disinfect the keys after each student, the fear of the virus is real and can’t be easily wiped down.
Fortunately, a good deal of my students are happy to meet for their lesson via video call. The video lesson times have been my bits of sunshine to counter the doom and gloom current news. Solitude, miserable rainy weather, plus reading through loads of Covid-19 updates was weighing me down.
I haven’t been in the company of another person since last Friday. I feel like an astronaut and I’m floating in space alone. I’m used to choosing to not be sociable over the weekend but this is the first weekend where I’m not sure when I will enjoy being with someone I know next. Nursing a cold alone, I had a low moment thinking I was going to die alone during the shut-in. But family and friends checked on me as well as parents of my students. Everyone feels a poignant unity experiencing the shared uncertainty.
My cold went away and my spirits rose as I had online piano lessons to plan and look forward to. I even gathered a couple of my best friends for an online tea party. We toasted to lemon and honey tea and hung out for a couple of hours discussing which vitamins to take to optimize our immune systems and wondering if we are heading toward a dystopian future.
We are all living through something we only watch in movies.
The Clovid-19 news is a mix of ominous and confusing. News from Italy says to take this quarantine seriously yet opinion from beach goers in Florida are nonchalant. I’m seeing a clash of the generations brewing where younger people are upset as to why they ought to stop living their life normally just to keep older people safe. They are, after all, not likely to die. Our country is anticipating people with breathing difficulties to start cropping up in the next week or so. We don’t see the bedlam yet because we are ahead of the storm. I think bad times are coming. My sister-in-law who works in healthcare has been working on prepping for the virus since January, modifying protocols they had formed while preparing for Ebola. She says things are crazy. They are now looking at which doctors are available to help and come OUT of retirement.
The storm is coming and to some other’s reality, it is here. If you don’t feel the rain on your face yet, you will. This social distancing time is to gain some buffer time for our hospitals and lessen the tsunami.
My students are too young to care for themselves and are enjoying their parents, grandparents and great grandparents. They seem to be taking the quarantine in better stride. If minding the social distancing mandate means keeping people they love especially their caretakers safe, they will roll with it. We are just in the beginning of the storm, a storm that I hope ends before I celebrate my birthday in a couple of months. Until then, I will look forward to teaching and seeing my friends through video calls.
I’m grateful for technology. I know I’m not alone in outer space though it feels like it. Stay safe everyone and may God bless you and your loved ones with good health. We are all in this together.
JNET
I fear the economic pandemic more than the medical one. The statistics for the worst cases will drop as they are highly inflated right now based on the limited testing. Many who are known positive came forward due to being in the worst case situation so the numbers are skewed by that.
Not saying to be nonchalant about any of this. I hope for all to be safe. But for most, this will be no worse than the flu if they get it.
Glad you are in the unique position to continue earning, as many of us are already being impacted for our reliance on others to pay us.
I hope that the worst case scenario does not play out. The hospitals are bracing themselves. My sister in law says resources are maxed out. I’m hoping this will be a short disruption of daily life but it doesn’t seem promising. I have a few students that are taking a break in hopes that piano lessons at the studio resumes next month.
By God’s grace I have some cushion to deal with the financial challenges for a little while and family to catch me. The solitude and isolation is a bit surreal. As an introvert, I’m usually comfortable with my solitude but the anxiety and tension about the world is tangible. I’m grateful for the internet and social media. It’s my lifeline to the outside world.
Thanks for your hello. It’s nice to know my voice in the internet wilderness found an ear.
Take care and good health to you and your loved ones.
J
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