Is this real?
It may seem strange but my brain just went blank.
It is election week and I promised myself I would not talk politics.
It has been way too stressful the past few months with my family divided among parties trying to convince each other why their choices are less monstrous than the other.
I’m done with this.
On the other hand, Europe just went back on lockdown and I worry: what should I do before I get locked up again in my NYC apartment?
I go for a walk.
Empty streets and cold Halloween air is upon us. I feel a shiver on my spine. I need inspiration, desperately. But where to find it?
I look to the large bubble tents outside of restaurants. I laugh. We are all in our little bubbles just trying to be “normal.”
Hospitals start to fill up once again in New York and I search for hope.
My brain will explode if I have to suffer through one more “Zoom happy hour.”
Nothing personal against Zoom and I do think my friends look cute in their pj bottoms, but enough is enough.
I can say this pandemic brought us all closer in some ways. Maybe even too close (sorry, Roomba).
We now know how we all look in pjs, with no makeup or fancy hairdos. At first it was kind of cool not to have to try to impress anymore.
And boy did it give us something to talk about! I have never felt so popular with all my friends. Sometimes they would call me up just to hear the sound of my voice!
But now we may be in it for the long haul. I’m going to have to get creative this time.
Perhaps I may replace my Zoom calls with Virtual Reality. Yes, one of those goofy headsets! I will actually feel like I am IN the meeting.
I will keep my long walks but will wear a full germ-proof hazmat suit.
I’ll change the color of my hair to some kind of rainbow, so I will be very hip for the moment.
I’ll drink all the wine in the fridge, one bottle at the time, of course.
As we learn from our mistakes, I will not stock up on toilet paper or alcohol gel at this time.
And I’ll save the dish soap for the dishes as it does not make a good ingredient when used to wash the fruits and vegetables.
My teenage daughter will have to respect the rules this time and everything will need to happen on her computer screen. I don’t care what it is; school, dates, friends, parties. Non-negotiable. We will all be safe in our bubbles of love and will privately journal our issues with each other instead of bringing them right to the dinner table.
So as I prepare for what is coming next and my brain goes blank I question: is this real?
About the Author:
Ilana is a journalist and entrepreneur from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She is passionate about helping people find their voices and pursue their dreams. It is never too late to start and never too early to change.
