Can we take a minute to talk about this NONSENSE that is rampantly circulating? A lot of people barely have time in their normal lives to get done what they strictly need to do. Between work, family, and other duties, the To-Do list can be perpetually unfinished as it continues to get longer. That’s pretty much how adult life always rolls. If people are taking this time to simply get things together and more organised, then that’s okay. If they have been running at a million miles a minute and they are taking this time to just rest, that is okay. If they never really get enough time to themselves or with their family and they’re enjoying quality time, that’s also okay. 

But there are plenty of people who are struggling right now to pay for rent or food, not to mention those who are sick or have sick loved ones. There are people still required to somehow work from home, even though their job isn’t equipped for that, and are expected to be equally productive. There are people who cannot work from home and are scrambling to have a “survival hustle,” let alone a side hustle. There are people who are still working outside the house and are keeping our entire society functioning while risking their own lives. There are parents, many of whom are still working, who must homeschool their kids for the first time while keeping those cooped up kids (and themselves!) sane. These people have LESS spare time than ever. And there are people who rely on routine to maintain their mental and/or physical health and have to navigate that without their usual coping mechanisms. (Even if I didn’t have the virus, I have chronic illness. And not being able to maintain my regular diet or activities is going to cause long-term damage for me and others like me. This adds to my emotional distress that is already exacerbated by confinement and concern for my and my son’s immediate health. There are countless people like me suffering in this very real way.) 

If people come out of this mentally and physically healthy, but with no new skills, no revolutionised fitness, no newly made work of art in any form, then they aren’t undisciplined, they are prioritising and surviving. And let’s not forget, too many people will not come out of this at all. And many more than that will be in grief for those they lost. This isn’t a vacation, it’s a global crisis that comes with lots of reasonable worry and stress and a lot of ADDED responsibility for a lot of people. Also, vacations are designed for relaxation as a respite from an overly busy life. So, even if this were a paid holiday for everyone, which it definitely isn’t, doing nothing much wouldn’t be lazy, it’d be restorative. If you are in a place where this feels like spare time and you have any mental, physical, or financial stability, then you’re in a place of privilege. Please acknowledge that and be sufficiently grateful for it. And please realise that being at home full-time for most people is not easy nor without a full slate of obligations that must be fulfilled with limited mobility and access to typical resources. So, it’s not the time to put unnecessary performance pressure on people who feel it constantly under normal circumstances. And it certainly isn’t a time to be superior or passive aggressively insulting.