It’s been more than four weeks since I left home. It sounds weird and surreal.
I don’t think I have gone crazy yet because I still go on as normal as possible; wake up, exercise, eat breakfast, work, eat lunch, work, eat dinner, watch some TV and then go to bed. Repeat.
Of course I do other things in between … like take long strolls in the garden and comb my hair, and so on and so forth.
But then something strange happened in week three. I became a bit angry. I started missing my life and the things Rona took from me.
Rona is the nickname for the coronavirus in our house.
She, because I think only a woman can be so deadly, took a few things from me. First my deserving holiday which we literally cancelled at the last minute. Our bags were packed and we were ready for our flight. But the night before, 15 March to be exact, President Ramaphosa announced the travel restrictions. No more holiday.
Secondly Rona took away my freedom. Simple things like going to the gym, going to work and going to church were halted. Fine, I completely understand, we live in a digital world and everything can go on online. But then Rona took away my will to go on like this. I started to feel trapped … in my own home. I started to realise a few things about myself and that scared me – a lot.
Fortunately I have such a great family, an amazing group of friends and hard-working colleagues risking their lives to tell our community’s stories, so I quickly realised I needed to stop sulking and carry on … for them!
We are in this together and I am just being a spoilt brat. I am healthy, my family is healthy, I have a roof over my head, food in my fridge and a job I can still do remotely. My life is good; no, correction, it’s great. So if I need to spend the next couple of weeks staying put, then I will!
I know there will come a time when we got Rona all figured out and we will then wish for some much-needed time ‘off’ again. So I am shifting my focus from being angry to being grateful.
There are so many out there who have it far worse. I am doing this for you, Krugersdorp. We will get through this!
Stay safe and stay prepared!
