Capturing Time

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CERTAINLY BY now we all realize this is not going away anytime soon, so it’s best to stop the binge eating, binge drinking, binge gaming and binge Netflixing and grab ourselves by the collar and shake some sense into ourselves. Possibly a slap in the face is called for as well, either by our own washed hand or that of a willing friend or family member. The time has come to seize the pandemic, for this too shall pass and what will you have to show for it — an extra 15 pounds and an alcohol problem?

This is not an original thought but one stolen from my son, who worried that he was not seizing his pandemic but instead squandering it on senseless activities when he could be creating a stockpile of his handmade products he will need once his business starts up again. I related to his observation immediately, thinking of all the wasted hours I could have used to make great art, or at the very least clean my house from top to bottom, instead of alternating between playing Words With Friends and sobbing.

While Covid-19 is robbing some people of their lives and others the ability to do anything but struggle for their next breath, we the uninfected have been given the gift of time. Time to fill with activities that surpass our usual running around with friends, going out to dinner and a show, traveling to foreign countries and rock-climbing aboard cruise ships. Instead we can finally read Moby Dick or learn a foreign language or take up knitting or paint the bedroom or master the art of meditation or clean the basement or work out and get stronger than we were before. Find your inner power and seize your pandemic, while you still can.

—Andrea Rouda

Andrea Rouda blogs at The Daily Droid.