Observations From Just Outside the Pandemic #3

I have not been out for a week and that was a short trip to the drugstore to pick up my medication. I last shopped for food 12 days ago.  Although my life has not changed dramatically in the last week or so I am finding my reaction to the self-imposed isolation somewhat strange or at least unexpected.

I am bored. Lord knows I have lots to do inside the house. There is a full fleece to wash, enough clean wool to spin for a shawl and some wool already spun waiting to be woven into bags. I also have a table cloth to make and some display stands to repair in case the farmers' markets ever open this year. If the weather would get a bit sunnier, I have even more to do outside. If I was really bored, I could clean the house.

I have talked to all of my neighbours within the last ten days, in fact, more than I normally would (although the nice weather last week may have been responsible for our collective chattiness) as well as talking to both of my kids more (in the case of my son) than I normally would have. I have no reason to be bored or to feel ignored or lonely.

I find myself having mini panic attacks about not have enough food or supplies. For example, as I shower - I realize that I am running out of shampoo and conditioner - I only have enough for another two, maybe three weeks and I think I need to go and buy some. My fridge is emptier than it was a week ago and while I will need to buy to broccoli, mushrooms and some root vegetables sometime soon, the sense of panic that I get every time I open the fridge is unwarranted and absurd.  I have enough food for at least another week. My diet may be marginally less varied than it was ten days ago, but that just means that I need to be a bit less lazy and a bit more creative about cooking.

I miss reading real books. E-books are great, but I miss holding a book and turning the pages. I find my tablets somewhat clunky and slow to peruse the hundreds and hundreds of choices. It is sometimes a slow and frustrating process. But I have lots to read and to listen to.

So what am I missing? Corey Mintz, in the March 2020 edition of the Walrus wrote an article about how the process of buying food has changed over the last seven to eight decades. One of the paragraphs was particularly relevant to my developing sense of boredom or loneliness. Mintz suggested that low-level interactions - those interactions we have with casual acquaintances such as neighbours, or the brief interactions we have with store clerks, bank tellers or librarians form what is referred to in the sociological literature as "weak ties". These weak-ties contribute to our sense of well being and may protect us from, amongst other things, memory loss. Those ties may turn out to be critical to our well being.

So I am not bored or lonely. I am just missing that casual interaction with people - most of whom I do not know their names. Just that little bit of visual contact, a brief comment about the weather, uninterested questions about how I am feeling or even a please and thank you when buying something.

The big stuff I can handle - it is the small stuff that I am missing.