The novelty of shelter-in-place has worn off and most of the world is settling into this situation as a long-term reality. On March 16, I received an emergency alert on my phone saying that six counties in the Bay Area were enacting a shelter-in-place order. I’ll admit that I did feel some excitement in all of the uncertainty of what was happening similar to how friends from the midwest and the east coast have described a snow day. I have never experienced one growing up in Hawaii, but from what they have described it seems similar to the start of this pandemic. As soon as they got the news that the weather was getting worse and heading towards their area, they would stock up on the supplies that they needed knowing that they would have to bunker down for a while and if they were responsible and stayed inside, they would ‘weather the storm.’ The other side of uncertainty, however, is anxiety. Hearing about a terminal virus quickly spreading around the world is unnerving. Experiencing panic-buying for the first time really brought things home for me. The first time we shopped during the shelter-in-place, we went to Whole Foods right as they opened that morning. I had never seen an aisle in a grocery store completely stripped of its products until that day. All that was left of the paper products aisle was bare shelving like the exposed ribs of an animal devoured and abandoned by its predator. We heard second-hand while waiting to check out that a lady at the meat department had requested, “all of the chicken.” On top of all of this, there was no system in place to address shopping responsibly within the guidelines laid out for the public to suppress the spread of COVID-19. I soon realized that things were going to be different, priorities were being reevaluated, and the focus of social pressures had shifted towards ‘flattening the curve.’ We are in a pandemic with no clear end in sight and that has called for more than just stocking up to ‘weather this storm.’ We need to adjust our lifestyles.
We are creatures of habit and being habitual has helped and, at times, hurt humans. We have created habits because the brain is looking for ways to save effort. We don’t want to make recurring decisions every day. We create a habit when there is a trigger that causes action and that in turn creates a neurological reward. When we have created this loop, our brain can essentially go into auto-pilot when executing a habit and this is an energy-saver. We can also develop bad habits and in order to break them, we need to rewire our brains. The power of routine is important during a pandemic. Creating a new routine for myself has been challenging. Working from home seemed appealing to me at face-value because now I wouldn’t need to commute to work. But when you have two people working full time in a one-bedroom apartment that have, at times, overlapping video conferencing, you need to find a system quickly. One attempt at creating a psychological barrier between work and personal life has been carrying out normal morning activities like shaving and getting dressed for work. Being in work clothes puts me into a work mind frame, and when I change out of those clothes, I am creating some semblance of a work-life balance. Exercise is another facet of my routine that needed to be adjusted to fit the parameters of social distancing. There are a lot of free resources for working out at home and we have taken advantage of some like the Peloton app. Adding to the routine has also been helpful with passing time in isolation. I’ve taken it upon myself to learn new things or at the very least brush up on old skills like writing (if blogging is considered such). I have dusted off the Hawaiian language that I haven’t actively used since college and even started learning the Greek language as well through Duolingo. I noticed that Udemy was offering discounted rates for their classes and decided that I would take one of their classes on wine since alcohol consumption was starting to become a bigger portion of my routine.
The unspoken rules for drinking have changed in the pandemic. Many of the indirect ways of keeping ourselves accountable are no longer in place. There are a lot of people that no longer need to physically show up to work, and sadly a lot more people completely out of work. Having more spare time can be a trigger for grabbing a drink, and drinking is a common approach to taking the edge off during a tense time. The problem is when we start giving in to these triggers more often than a healthy level would hold us to. Alcohol can lift our spirits but it is still a depressant and it could turn from helping the anxiety to fueling the problem. Now could be a good time to reset our drinking habits. I have always believed that Europeans, in general, are more responsible drinkers and learn from a young age how not to abuse it. Americans have a reputation for being binge drinkers and not being able to carry themselves well around alcohol. That is why I appreciate the philosophy of, Vincent Obsopoeus, a German renaissance humanist and poet who wrote The Art of Drinking in the early 1500s. His basic philosophy is that when it comes to drinking, moderation and not abstinence is the key to avoiding alcohol abuse. His reason for writing The Art of Drinking was he witnessed the rise in binge drinking in Germany and he wanted his countrymen to regain civility in the matter. Yes, frat bro culture was born in Germany. Much like those knights in 16th century Germany that Obsopoeus witnessed going through large amounts of wine, we may have less work to keep us busy and more time to sit with our vices. For people that are already struggling with alcoholism, not being able to gather in big groups for meetings like Alcoholics Anonymous means that they are having a harder time maintaining their sobriety. For the people that drink occasionally, it can also be a struggle. There is less stigma for drinking at home because suddenly that’s the responsible way to drink. But drinking is synonymous with many social activities and now drinking lacks that important aspect. Luckily, we have apps that can act as supplements for actual interaction like FaceTime, Houseparty, and Zoom. Online happy hours are a common occurrence now that we’ll have to wait to gather in public again. Not knowing when that will be is discouraging because interaction is a necessity.
We are social beings. The highest level of punishment in prison is time “in the hole.” Solitary confinement over time has adverse psychological and physical effects especially on people in developmental years. As time accrues during shelter-in-place, people are feeling the effects in different ways and at different levels of severity. I am an introvert and I physically and emotionally recharge when I have time at home. Extroverts and people who work in the community may be having a tougher time in isolation. Turning to social media can be a useful tool for keeping in contact with friends and family, but much like alcohol, it should be consumed in moderation. Spending too much time on social media can ironically lead to feelings of social isolation and sadness. Conventional media outlets can be just as damaging during this time. A news loop with sensationalized reporting on a pandemic can lead to a spike in one’s stress levels and symptoms similar to PTSD. The things that can help us during this time can become harmful when consumed in excess. We need to stay informed on what is happening in the world, but it shouldn’t cause us harm.
Maybe good ol’ Vincent Obsopoeus was right; moderation is key. We don’t need to be in a pandemic in order to evaluate how much we are consuming and whether or not it’s at a healthy level. Eating, drinking, gaming, social media, and the news are a part of our lives and they also need to be monitored. That way, hopefully, our new normal can be a beneficial one.