9 Reasons Why COVID-19 can make ordinary life “luxurious” again

• COVID-19 has rearranged everything and the virus commanded government leaders to reflect it on its orders.
• Essentially, it is not all bad for it reminds us of common sense and the basics.
• We have more than 9 reasons to live a life as we know it but it took a pandemic to tell us that these had become a luxury for most of us.

Warning: Do not bash the writer of IBS Digital Network for using the word “luxurious” when everybody are now on a crisis mode. Relaxation appeared to be unwelcome but it is part of the new reality as a result of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic.

The way in of COVID-19 onto each of our private lives is described by my daughter as a “total reset” of things both inside and outside of our homes.

Total reset meant that we observe self-quarantine within our communities and that we perform a self-imposed social distancing at every instance that we are outside of our respective households. If you don’t consider this as an element of a life undergoing a total reset, then you may describe it as an evolving transformation that is making life a bit colorful and extra-ordinary.

In reality, as workers and parents, however, our lives were shaped by a daily routine: wake up in the morning, wash-up, clean the house, cook food, prepare for work, storm traffic jam going home, eat whatever is quick and easy to prepare, wash-up, sleep by midnight, and again wake up at most by 5:00 in the morning. It is a routine cycle.

COVID-19 has rearranged all of that and the virus commanded our government leaders to reflect the changes in the form of orders and ordinances. Essentially, its orders are not totally bad if only to remind us – human beings – of common sense and the basics like washing hands with soap or covering your mouth and nose when sneezing, practices that were part of ordinary daily life then, but these may have been displaced from our consciousness by more urgent matters.

The pandemic has appeared to have reclaimed what were displaced by our busy lives, things that seemingly have become a luxury like relaxation, sleep, and house chores. We will see ourselves doing what we have come to know and lived in the next 30 days. Certainly, we have more than 9 reasons, but it can serve as a good start.

1. You can now get an 8 hours of sleep or even more.

One major luxury for a worker, especially among those whose jobs are night shifts, is good quality sleep. You can now enjoy 8 hours of sleep and a siesta if you like.

2. You can take a bath without a guilt.

Purists and conservationists will bash you if you show yourself bathing with indiscriminate use of water from the shower. But since you won’t show that on social media, then you can bathe without guilt. If you are lucky, you can use the shower gel that you have brought home from a hotel. That’s part of the room accommodation that you paid for so use them without shame.

3. You can declare you have an OC Disorder but it is not a disability.

Clean, clean, clean! We will survive COVID-19 this 2020 because each of us will activate a disorder described as “obsessive compulsive”. In the aftermath, we will emerge with a ‘good disability’. By this time, people including yourself, have started cleaning every nook and cranny, appliance, cabinets, and surroundings of your house. Cleaning while a necessity is a luxury for many of us who have an 8 to 5 work.

4. You can become an old school again by hand-washing your clothes.

Hand-washing is old school with all the laundry and drying services around the neighborhood. Doing it on your precious clothes is a luxury but don’t be embarrassed for it will help extend the lifespan of your delicate fabrics.

5. You can cook the food that you missed eating.

Say a momentary goodbye to a fastfood. If you are an Ilonggo, you must be cooking a laswa, one of the staple household favorite and pair it with a charcoal-grilled fish or sinugba nga isda marinated in rock salt. Home cooked food is a luxury for a busy family.

6. You can do home repairs.

Don’t be exasperated with a damaged or non-functional household facility. This is the time to tinker on them, especially if you know how to. Or else click Youtube “how-to-do-it-yourself” safely tutorial.

7. You can enjoy your old records.

Relive the old records that you are keeping by playing them. You can go romantic with your partner with wine and the works if you have them at home. It is a luxury that is not corny.

8. You can ‘inventorize’ your library.

Ahhhh, yes – books. We all have that. In fact, we have books that we even have barely read.

As a journalist, writer, and blogger, we preserve a host of reference materials which we utilize to reinforce our writings. So, we have created our own library which have accumulated dust from neglect. Dust them off and re-organize them.

9. You can learn to relish on the boredom of your children.

Laughed off the vexations of your children and find delight on their expressions of frustration being on lockdown at home. They remind us of “US” when we were younger. They are also aggressive creatures who loves unregulated freedom to do the things that they felt are productive and which deserved to be defended. Enjoy their noise and laughter and treat it as a rare privilege.

So if you are swinging and humming on that hammock, keep safe and enjoy the view.