Self-Isolating in The Age of Coronavirus
You don’t have to feel trapped
Whatever I thought I was going to write about today at this current, difficult time seemed pointless, flippant, insulting. We are in the midst of a once in a lifetime pandemic crisis. This is what I’ve been told and that is fairly terrifying.
I have been told to self-isolate because of the drug I take for my Multiple Sclerosis. As a result of this my family also has to self-isolate, which means my partner and our teenage son, who is revising for his GCSEs. Exams, which will now not take place as all UK schools were closed at the end of school day on Friday 20 March.
With this in mind, all three of us have been considering what we can do at home. And here I have made a list of the pleasures and problems of self-isolating.
Pleasures:
* You can sleep in
* Watch TV and Netflix and read read read!
* Eat whenever you want
* No real schedule
Problems:
* Without conventional distractions you can start questioning ‘who you really are’ too much
* Disconnection from friends and family who live outside of your self-isolation bubble
* Arguments between housemates
* Food and toilet roll and soap, and so on, running out
* Feeling hopeless and scared
Of course, philosophers have known all of this for centuries. And they had answers for how to deal with it.
As the Roman Emperor and Stoic, Marcus Aurelius (121–180) tells us, consider your current problem and then put it into context:
“Do not disturb yourself by picturing your life as a whole; do not assemble in your mind the many and varied troubles which have come to you in the past and will come again in the future, but ask yourself with regard to every present difficulty: ‘What is there in this that is unbearable and beyond endurance?’ You would be ashamed to confess it!”
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
With this in mind, go through your worries one by one:
- Lack of clear tasks
Give yourself tasks to complete. If at home, all those annoying jobs that never get finished. Or those letters you meant to send or sorting out the garden.
- Contacts
Phone, text, email, or any other social media method to your family and friends and keep in touch on how everyone’s doing.
- Housemates
Try to have a daily meeting to see how everyone’s doing, discuss any problems, try to stay calm and non-confrontational. You’re all in this together!
- Supplies
Look for supermarkets who deliver. Obviously, they are all very busy at the moment, but you can still try to register with them.
Then ask any local family and friends who aren’t self-isolating by telephone or the internet if they can get you some supplies and put them on your doorstep. You can pay them online or start a ‘tab’ to pay them later. Obviously, this does require good friends!
In a worse case scenario, see if your local council has emergency contacts for people who can’t get food and supplies. They will also have advice regarding the Coronavirus.
- Fear
These are scary times, it’s okay to be afraid. But there are government systems coming into play to deal with the Coronavirus and support the people who’ve been affected. Take it one day at a time and don’t try to over think what might happen next. No one knows yet.
We also have the sage words of Julian of Norwich (also known as Mother Julian (late 1342 1416). She was an English anchorite of the Middle Ages. Being an anchorite required someone for religious reasons to withdraw from secular society
She wrote Revelations of Divine Love (c.1393) whilst in seclusion and this is where her famous quote comes from:
“All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.”
Julian of Norwich
Another very useful thought I’ve found is an old Persian adage and also, possibly, linked to the great Persian poet Rumi. It has been translated and used in multiple languages.
“This too shall pass.”
If all this sounds too cold, too academic or too poetic, here’s another way of looking at things. ‘Whatever will be will be’. And who can say this better than the late, great Doris Day? Que Sera Sera
Finally, if you are self-isolating be aware that these are special measures and not forever. After self-isolation you can run free!
