One person’s reward may be another person’s punishment.
Think about social isolation vs. solitude. Some people may crave a little solitude. A little alone time, maybe out at the lake enjoying natures beauty and bounty. Another person might go a little stir crazy, when there is no one around to hang out with or talk to.
Now consider you have been told you will be self-isolating in a hotel room all by yourself for 10 days because you have been close to someone who turned out to have covid. Now if I were given time to gather up a few things like several books, art and writing supplies, my tablet and laptop, 10 days alone in a hotel room might not be so bad. But consider what it would be like if you had none of these things.
What would it be like if it was just, you and the room? You could watch a little TV, but I would consider nothing but TV for 10 days a form of punishment and even torture. They give you food, but it may not be to your taste or liking. Plus, you will be eating alone in your room. Your only break would be if you wanted to go outside for a walk or smoke and maybe, just maybe there would be someone else in the smoking area to talk to. Some people might even take up smoking, just so they could get outside for a few minutes occasionally.
Alone in your room for 10 days with nothing but a TV. You might also be going through withdrawal from medications, drugs, foods, social activities, and certainly your daily routine.
You might be isolating because you have tested positive for covid or because someone around you later got covid. You might know the person, or it might be a stranger. Regardless of the circumstances, you are being told you must isolate in the hotel room.
For some people it wouldn’t be a problem but for others it would be a form of a rather cruel punishment. To understand this, you have to try and walk 10K in their shoes, moccasins, work boots or flip flops. You also have to imagine what spending 10 days alone in a hotel room from their perspective or vantage point would be like.
The same goes if you are isolating at home. For one person it might be relatively easy but for a family with several kids, it might be more than a little chaotic. The trick is to find ways of making it workable for people with very different needs and emotions.
We need to put in place ways of making isolation bearable and workable. The motto stay calm, stay safe and be kind just isn’t enough. We need to find ways to help people. It might take a little creative thinking. Rather then trying to force people through isolation alone, maybe they should be in groups, so they have some social interaction. To hang out together and to have others to talk to.
Rather than just giving the group prepared food they could prepare and cook it themselves. Or they could go for walks together, do some arts and crafts together. Work together on a jig saw puzzle or game of some sort. You could turn isolation into a group activity for those who can’t handle it alone.
For some, cabins out of town might be a more ideal setting. I know I would rather be out berry picking on a nice day then stuck in town in a hotel room lis10ing to the news and endless political squabbles.
As you can see, I have cleverly worked berry picking into this column because it is that time of year. The seasons are changing. That will make some people happy, others not as much. Once again it all depends on your perspective and expectations.
This is a learning experience for everyone, and I hope that we learn better ways of handling these things by seeing the problems from different points of view.
