I have to be honest.
When self isolating started to take place, it kind of felt a little familiar.
But it took me a few days to figure it out.
You see, self isolation is already a familiar experience to people who have already gone through losses such as death, divorce, job loss, abuse and neglect.
People like us know how to be at home alone.
We know how to process a hard day without anyone by our side.
We have gotten used to the feeling of no human contact, or touch.
We certainly know how to eat alone.
Watch TV with our pets.
And sleep solo.
This has already happened to millions of us over the years.
The only difference is that we did it with a broken heart.
Without anyone knowing about it.
We also didn’t have Netflix parties, and family facetime calls.
We had to tell everyone we were doing just fine by week three or four.
The TV news reporters did not spend their news hour talking about the hardship of our lives.
Nobody was telling us ‘we are all in this together.’
There was no ‘together’ for us.
Now millions of people are sharing with each other what is happening to their lives.
And that is the good news.
I am grateful that so many folks are not going through this alone.
But, the media needs to take advice from people who have gone through this before.
We know how to pull through after days and months of isolation.
We know how to walk into a busy grocery store when we are uncomfortable in doing so.
We know how to keep going regardless of the unknown future.
We have been through much worse.
The government did not try to pay our bills when we ran out of money during our isolation.
The medical system did not say don’t worry this is on us, when we got sick and needed a test.
We had to figure out how to make a living while trying to stop the sky from falling on us.
And maybe one of the many lessons we are learning right now is that being isolated and afraid of the unknown, is not easy.
Whether it is a choice or an event that has made this happen, it is a hard experience.
I hope, as we pull out of this difficult time, we take with us free medical care, government funds for unpaid bills due to a life altering event and lots of talking about how hard being alone really is. (Click to tweet!)
Dear world, welcome to our world of loneliness, deep loss and uncharted territories, we promise you growth, lessons and above all wisdom for the ages.
With lots of self isolation experience,
Christina
P.S. If you need a virtual support group during this time come on over: https://www.facebook.com/groups/lifereentryc19