Unlike a lot of people who have been going stir-crazy during this period of self-isolation, I am actually quite happy! Here are some reasons why:
- I don’t have to give excuses as to why I don’t want to go out
- I don’t have to mull over what to wear to go out…especially on days where I don’t feel the best about my appearance (also…no bra!)
- I get to binge-watch all my dramas!
- I don’t need to feel guilty about my laziness in ordering food delivery or even courier pickups from my doorstep
- Because I don’t have to leave the house, I’m a lot more disciplined about my workouts
- I no longer have to explain that I’m working from home and while I love the flexibility, I no longer need to explain why it’s not “oh sooooo good!!” as most people are now realising
- I’m cooking a lot more, which ensures that I’m eating healthier than usual (check out one of my cooking videos below)
- The parents no longer kaypoh in the kitchen while I cook and then later comment, “Why never cook for me?”
- I feel less tired because I don’t need to go out and talk to people. People-ing is tiring.
- Work meetings are now a lot more efficient because I don’t have to wake up early just to shower and travel to the office
- I’m discovering new merchants that sell better quality food as they’re now forced to go online to sell
- The earth is healing
Basically, I’m an introvert who is now living in a bubble and I’m happy. I’m also very lucky to be in a bubble because I’ve moved out and am no longer living with the parents. I think if I wasn’t, I would definitely go slightly mad because I can totally imagine how my mum would make me ‘help’ and do the housework or any other tasks. I don’t mind doing household chores but I prefer to do it on my own time and own terms…without nagging etc because I will get them done, when I want to get them done.
And the exercise bit. As I have the whole flat to myself, I have enough space in front of my TV to exercise while playing those YouTube workout videos. I even have enough space to skip! Back at the parents, I can’t ask my dad to let me have the telly for 30-40 minutes while I workout. He’ll probably tell me, “But I’m watching my show!”
Nonetheless, there are some things that I find I wished went back to normal. Due to this CB period, many of my friends and colleagues are hankering more for human interaction and my WhatsApp group chats have never been so busy. Too much chatter for me. I had to mute several of them.
I’ve been shopping groceries online long before this whole Covid-19 and have always loved the convenience of not having to carry all the heavy, bulky items home while also saving on certain items. If I had a craving for steak and wanted to cook, I could easily just go to Cold Storage, get one and be on my way. However, the situation has changed. Getting a grocery delivery slot now is akin to striking the lottery. I’m forced to buy more things in bulk because I don’t know whether I’ll be able to get the same item next month. A lot of things are sold out because everyone is also staying at home cooking and/or baking. But as I’ve mentioned earlier, I’ve since discovered a lot of merchants that sell better quality food than the local supermarkets as they’re now all forced to sell their products online and I also have not much choice but to purchase from them.
With this pandemic, we also see the true colours of a lot of humans around the world. The crazies, the racists as well as the brave, long suffering ones. While many talk about rights and free will, similar to the argument of freedom of speech, one has to understand that you have the right to do a lot of things as long as it doesn’t infringe on other people’s rights.
The main thing that I think gets to people is the lack of choice. The choice to go out when we want to. To simply walk around the park or go to a shopping centre to window shop. That does get to me too…which is what separates me from a hikikomori.
Needless to say, even when 1 June comes about and we ease out of this CB in phases, “normal” will no longer be what it used to be.
Images: Shutterstock
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