Indoor thoughts: on Covid lockdown

Well, it finally happened. I got covid. This is written during my time in quarantine. I wanted to record some thoughts and post some art. Hope it entertains.

This post is mainly to celebrate my apartment. I’ve been putting a lot of love into it, and it’s looking great. It has been a while since i had my own place. This is just in case you thought I still lived in the tent!

First off, I should say, I got the vaccine, and the booster. So that may have helped me have a minor case. I had strong cold symptoms. Some shortness of breath. It wasn’t fun, but not something that had me fearing for my life.

I personally believe this isn’t the first time I’ve had covid. I worked in public through the entire pandemic. Judging by how minor it was, I could have had it any of a number of times. It just goes to show we have to be diligent about stopping the spread. It could have no effect on me, and kill someone else. We have to protect the most vulnerable. Get yer shots!

It seems like a lot of us have forgotten about covid. I was not taking precautions for myself. I see less and less mask wearing. Maybe that means we are getting over it. But it was and is a big deal. This is a human-race-level-threat. We really need to take the time to think and work out our priorities as a species. Because this isn’t the only threat on this level. Climate change, wealth hoarding oligarchs, and the rise of fascism locally and abroad. We need to think about how we handle risk and who makes decisions. It’s hard stuff.

This whole time, its just been me and the apartment. It’s been a long stretch. Not a lot of social interaction. That was the big challenge: too much time to think. It’s hard to be with yourself. It really forced me to introspect. I had some deep thoughts.

This illness made me homesick. Home is an important concept. I had someone ask me recently, “where’s home?” Tough question. I moved to a new city, 1000 miles from where my family lives. But how at home was I there anyway? The town I grew up in looks totally different from how it was. I don’t feel like myself there. This new city has promise, but it doesn’t feel homey yet.

I think it’s a cliche, but home for me really is where I make it. Like, literally, the physical space. My own apartment. I have my drawing table, my desk, my paintings on the wall. It makes me feel at home to surround myself with familiar things. It’s my turtle shell.

I did get some good art done. One oil painting I will post later. Some fun acrylic pouring paintings. I made six D&D character sheets. Learned a bunch of new ukulele songs.

I’d say it was a good output. I was worried I would be creatively blocked. Looking back, I did really do a lot.

Also, I dipped my tree in gold.

This tree was Gerald, who I had for a few years but ultimately failed to keep him alive. So now he becomes gold. Stay gold, Gerald.

It will be nice to talk to humans again, instead of trees.

Anyway, I hope you are safe and covid free. If you were on lockdown, did you go as crazy as me? Let me know in the comments.

I’ll close with a song:

-SCLeccentric