I get it. You're tired. You're tired of being stuck at home. Tired of the restrictions. Tired of making difficult decisions for yourself and your family. Tired of social distancing and wearing a mask. You're physically, emotionally, and mentally tired.
I get it - because I'm tired too.
We all have quarantine fatigue.
But this virus is not going anywhere anytime soon.
We are in a fragile place right now. Many people are asking where are we headed? What is the endgame? Back in March, it was to flatten the curve but now?
What are we doing this for?
I've been seeing an uptick in articles on social media that are questioning whether we should even try to contain this virus. These articles are even advocating going on with our lives as if nothing is happening. They argue that staying locked up is doing more damage. What they are focusing on, however, are the extremes - you either stay in your house and not leave, or you go out in the world like you did pre-pandemic and ignore what's going on.
But this isn't an either/or situation anymore.
It is possible to live our lives and be cautious and responsible at the same time. We can move on with life - with proper precautions. It will look different - it will be different, but we can do it.
What is the endgame?
The endgame is to get through this with the fewest possible lives lost. That's it. It's not going away. We can't ignore it. We have to face it. With a little bit of American ingenuity, and some out of the box thinking we can do this.
This summer my daughter's dance studio held classes. Students could choose to take the classes on Zoom or come to the studio. At the studio, the teachers cleaned and sanitized between every class, temperatures were taken, masks were required, social distancing was enforced, classes were small, and the students had to wait outside until their class started. It looked completely different than it usually did, but because of these precautions, my daughter was able to spend her summer doing what she loves - dance.
Was it more work for the teachers? Absolutely. Was it annoying to dance with a mask on? Yes. But that was what was required to return to dance. The dancers did it without much complaint and in fact got used to it. It became routine. The studio took proper precautions and had no outbreaks. Life returned, not the way it was before, but it returned.
It sucks, I know. We don't want to wear masks. We don't want to be aware of space and distance. We don't want to wash our hands, so we moan and groan and talk about the chances of actually getting and dying from this. We think we can talk ourselves out of the situation we are in, but that's not possible.
We must recognize and accept that these precautions will be in place for a while. We must remember that we are doing this to save lives. At this point, we will not be able to save every life, but that doesn't mean we just give up and go on with life hoping we are not one of the unlucky ones.
We can be inconvenienced. We can change our normal. We can do all we can to slow the spread, protect the vulnerable, and reduce deaths.
Isn't that worth doing?
-Amy Young
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