When It’s Done

These are such strange times, the mere idea of thinking about professional development or self-improvement seems borderline ridiculous. Talking about motivation or my creative processes is the last thing anyone needs.

I’ve been thinking about the world though, and what life feels like under quarantine. In many ways, some of these changes feel like the natural conclusion to the way we’ve been living our lives for years. While the lack of school and work has certainly been a shock, people my age have been “social distancing” for as long as I can remember. We’re always on our phones, we live through social media, we have less real friendships. Those lack of relationships often lead to us spending more nights home alone, watching Netflix. I’ve heard writers and pundits say that young people today are living like old people. We leave the house less, we socialize less, and it makes us less sharp, less present. Sometimes we can’t even remember what we just said. If nothing else, I hope this changes that.

This crisis is going to get worse before it gets better. And when it does get better, it’s likely to leave a scar that’ll never quite be erased. I’m not sure what the world on the other side will look like, but I have one hope. That when this is done, we’ll live like we never lived before. After months with of living with nothing but social media and our streaming services, we’ll realize that the digital world isn’t that great. We’ll go out and see each other, we’ll dance without checking our phones, we’ll look each other in the eye and laugh. We’ll see life as a temporary blessing that needs to enjoyed. We were already living with a virus before this one struck. Hopefully when it’s over, we’ll be rid of both of them.

Guest Blogger: Christian Zilko Not Leaving the House

If I ever get around to living, I’ll take the end of every day, tie it up to every morning and sail away.

— John Mayer