My COVID Times Diary: Butterflies or Bust

Similar to a butterfly, I’ve gone through a metamorphosis, been released from my dark cocoon, embraced my wings, and soared! ~ Dana Arcuri

When we all first learned we would be locked down back in March we all went through several changes.  The first was of course that we were unhappy about the change, the virus, the new way of life.  But then we tried to make the best of it and folks decided to try new things.  Home workouts, Peleton anyone, learning languages, playing music, reading, painting and drawing.  Baking became very popular, especially making sourdough bread for some reason.  Trying to make the best of a bad situation is what we were all hoping to do.

In a conversation with a friend early on I made a joke that people were going to come out the pandemic lockdowns transformed like butterflies or complete and total messes.  It was somewhat of a joke, but I’m starting to think it was more than a bit prophetic.  I was in a Zoom room pre-meeting the other day where people were discussing how when we come back to work they’ll need to go shopping, since they’d gained weight and their work clothes won’t fit anymore.  I’ve heard too many people talk about how little they’ve been working out since they’ve avoided the gym since the pandemic started.

On the flip-side, I’ve heard people discussing new talents, new media that they’ve discovered, some folks talking about books they’ve finally gotten to read.  No one has mentioned completing a book in conversation but I’m sure people have done that.  For me, partially because it’s the path I’ve been on, partially because of that conversation I had with a friend I focused on trying not to become a mess.  I’m happy to say I’ve had some success on that front.  I’ve kept up my language training on Duolingo completing training every day for the last 372 days.  I’ve also lost 10 pounds and for the last month I’ve been under 190 pounds which hasn’t happened in my adult life.  But I’ve also fallen down, I have a book that needs completing that I haven’t gotten back to, my guitar has set idle for far too long and I really wanted to sell more of my stuff on Ebay.

But here’s the good news, bad news of the pandemic.  Even though vaccinations are starting to happen, we’re all likely to have some reduced social options for a time.  That’s the bad news, but the good news is that means there is still some time to turn into that butterfly.  Start now and in the next six months, by time we’re getting back to some semblance of normalcy, you can’t have achieved something wonderful.