Back to Reality.
{Part 3}

We walk off the plane, not a soul in sight besides our fellow passengers from our flight. We walk through passport control like it was three in the morning. At the baggage claim, we are the only carousel queued up. Bags start coming out after waiting 20 minutes. Customs, there is no line. We are on the street in Newark, how was that so easy? Why wasn’t anything mentioned about the virus? What if someone on the plane gets the virus will they notify us since we were on the same flight? What do we do now? What is even going on here?

My mom picks us up at the airport. I drive home. We are all still in shock that we made it back with no hiccups but also eery that it went so smoothly. Now what?

Where I live, there were 2 cases of people that are infected before I got home. I hadn’t escaped; my status stayed the same. I sleep and then sleep some more. Two days of sleep, and now I have to turn my brain on and work. I work. I work some more, and then I worked over the weekend. I realized that I am a crucial piece to many businesses who were trying to send out COVID-19 updates on their website about their status. I’m in overdrive. Clients aren’t sure if they can afford my services, jobs are on the line, tension grows all around.

I do what I have to do and try to keep things regular. After all, I have been working from home for seven years now. I have my routine down; only a few things from my schedule need adjustments. No gym, no restaurants, ok I can handle that, I will find alternates to those two.

Hours and days pass on, and emotions start to flow, and I need to release the traumatic effects. I’ve had some practice with this more recently. I remind myself that I can do this; it’s just a process—one step at a time. So I start.

I am safe. I am secure.

Here I am now day 12 of my self-isolation, and still in good health. As scary as this world is right now, we all have to take responsibility for our health before helping others. I found it was necessary to take a 14-day self-isolation just in case I came in contact with the virus. However, in this self-isolation, I still make it a point to get outside and get some fresh air in my lungs. I keep my distance with people, but most of the time, I’m on some trail in the woods.

As crazy as my experience was, I genuinely believe that if you are a healthy person that honors the rule of self-isolation than you should be fine. If we all just follow the rules and play along, we will be ok. If you think you can beat the rules, well maybe you can but perhaps you can’t. Don’t play with fire unless you want to take responsibility if something burns down.

Humans aren’t invincible.

Dis-ease will catch up to us if we don’t take care of ourselves.

Do your part, stay home. Take some time with your family and find your roots. Allow this forced quiet time to embrace you. Regroup and recharge, and just breathe.