What day is it?

I wake up Saturday morning from a long sleep. I’m so happy the weekend has arrived and I can’t wait to take my walk around the block, wearing my new snoopy masks that also doubles as a headband. Since the beginning of the Quarantine, my daily walks are the most anticipated time of the day. After that, I’m back in the apartment trying to accomplish daily tasks that never end.

But not today! The weekend has arrived and I am looking forward to a break in this locked routine. Perhaps I will order food? Watch a new Netflix movie or play my bass for the entire morning!

I dress quickly, sipping my first dose of caffeine hoping that my brain will get sharper, and run to the streets with Kiki on her green leash. As I walk I see people wearing suits, rushing to get a yellow cab, delivery bikes zipping around people trying to attend all morning requests in a timely manner. But wait a minute, something is odd here… Why are all these people behaving as if it is a weekday?

Oh no, it actually is a weekday!!! I put my hands to my head and look at Kiki, for whom it doesn’t make any difference what day of the week it is. At that exact moment, I find out that Kiki and I have more things in common than I thought. Quarantine has been tricking my brain into thinking and every day is the same and so, we lose track of time.

For a moment I ask myself: is this old age? And to my relief and despair, I remember that the Pandemic has thrown us all in this black hole where the time doesn’t exist anymore. As we all patiently wait for a solution and hope to find some answers on the other side, anxiety takes over and we feel lost in space. 

Time has always been a strange thing. It speeds up as you try to grab it and slips through your fingers like sand. My children are grown now, but when did that happen? It was just yesterday that I could hear them laughing and fighting over that new toy. Tippy toeing feet running in the house, while wagging dog tail hits the glass on the table breaking it into pieces. You will never glue it together.

And all those memories racing in my mind, while I try to make sense of a time that takes my breath away. Childhood memories come to life, as I grieve for mistakes that can never be fixed. 

As time speeds up, I start to learn to live in the moment and stop worrying about the future and the past. Living in the moment is a survival skill, one that is needed now more than ever. It really doesn’t matter what day it is, we can always make it better if we take one step at a time.

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