We’ve been home for seven months now, due to a coronavirus causing COVID-19 disease. This period has been long, but the uncertainty hasn’t waned. The things we have done seem like the stuff of movies.
As we went into our time at home, I couldn’t help but find similarities to the movie, Bird Box, as we altered our lives. The fear, hoarding, and isolation seemed oh-so-much like that Netflix movie I had enjoyed a while back. How exciting to emulate a thriller!
In March, everyone was told to go home and stay home. Some saw it as a vacation to gallivant about, which made it harder for others to keep space, who then had to stay inside. The idea was to completely separate from the outside world. Those staying home had nothing but what was within their walls. There was rearranging of furniture to make an office and/or classroom. Increased indoor activity would need more space. Everything would need to be washed more thoroughly and more often. Objects coming from the outside world would need to be quarantined and disinfected before coming into the house. Household items would be repurposed for the making of masks.
You didn’t leave the house or open the door without proper preparation. You covered your face, and maybe wore clothes you don’t care about because you were going to burn them later, or at least wash them in scalding water. A supply run was the most dangerous undertaking.
When you finally did have to venture out, you trusted no one. You held your kids close, and threatened them not to step away from you. You avoided other people at all costs. If someone walked toward you, they were a threat.
You wondered if you should talk to the kids about the beauty of the outside world. Should you watch virtual Disneyland rides, reminisce about parties, or mention upcoming holidays? Do you hold back on stories of when you went to Outdoor Ed or graduated from elementary school? Was all this just too unfair to share, knowing they wouldn’t get to experience them for themselves?
What Bird Box didn’t highlight, or it wouldn’t be a horror, was the splendor in the security of always being together. The time for board games, baking, and working together was a huge plus. Rationing and learning to appreciate every little thing was another bonus.
I hope you have found some levity in these strange times, and find likenesses to adventures like I found in Bird Box, an inconceivable story causing now-not-so-unimaginable circumstances.