‘Stop and smell the roses’, they said!
It is not all rosy today, and as many of us got up this morning and sat in our makeshift offices, we realize the changes that have occurred in the past weeks. As I spoke to family and friends this last weekend, I saw a common theme emerge. I heard stories of how it has become difficult to be cooped up in the house for so long, and how we need to have some social interaction, on why we cannot survive for long in isolation and why this has created so much havoc in our lives. As I take my video calls from home for work, I saw the same conversations recurrent with different individuals and all of whom are finding the isolation quite boring.
At the same time, I pored into my childhood and I realized coming from India when we had a simpler time, we did not venture out quite a lot. Yes, we went to school and we met up with family and friends but many a days were spent in the house, going into the kitchen to see over mom’s shoulder of what was cooking for dinner, or sitting in the living room watching for the nth time a movie replay, or sitting in the verandah with makeshift equipment trying to run a Dexter’s laboratory at noon when the sun was overhead and seemed like a great time to concentrate those rays of sun on a parchment of paper.
Times were simpler, and joy was abundant. I wonder as we grow up, we see things more clearer and in some ways time passes quicker. Childhood seems to be so far and dense full of memories. So coming back to the pandemic situation, sure it has caused everyone to slow down a bit and look again at the pace of our lives. Look again for this time, once the fog clears up and life gets back to the normal, we will have wondered on how these times were a bit simpler. Sure, the reason behind this pause is undeniably gruesome and unfortunate, and I pray for all to be unharmed as we live through it. However, the pause that life has handed us can be looked at through rose colored glasses, the view can be made to look a bit brighter just be altering the perspective. It has given us reasons to venture out in the nature more often than we normally would, to spend more time with the loved ones we care about, and focus more on the few key activities that actually make up our lives. We are focused on smaller activities, with fewer people spending longer hours.
Hoping that this pandemic ends soon so that we regain our momentum, for life is nothing if we do not constantly move, but then again living is nothing, until we do not stop to smell the roses on the way!
