A few months ago, my friend wrote one of the best blog posts of the year about navigating this pandemic. I’m biased because I like the dude, but it is also the perfect encapsulation of how I’ve been trying to live this past year.
I think a more productive way to go about life, especially in tough times like these, is to make the best of the information we have at our disposal and as a corollary, to always try to expand our knowledge of the world we live without worrying too much about things that are outside of our control.
Arnaud Marthouret
In a year of countless tragedies for others, I must admit this past year has gone quite well for me. The main reason is because the hand of fate has spared my loved ones. However, it is also because I haven’t obsessed about the limitations of a year at home. Instead I’ve just focused on the limited options in front of my nose and tried my best to ignore the lost opportunities.
When I get stir crazy, I remind myself about life in 2003 when the original SARS became news. Imagine being stuck at home without ubiquitous high speed internet video and portable multimedia devices for the kids! Then again, my appreciation of today’s creature comforts are surpassed by my gratitude that I’ve finally slowed down enough to start enjoying the great relics of human thought, such as the I Ching and the Havamal. Hell, I just started reading the Bhagavad Gita!
Maybe this myopic attitude on “making do” with a quasi-religious inward turn will end up being a suboptimal long term strategy after a return to normal life. But it has been a great tactic turning for turning a year in quarantine into into one of positive growth.
It’s not a perfect life, but it is worth enjoying “as it is“.
While a completely carefree approach to life might be a bit too much at times, learning to let loose and enjoy life as it is, not an idealized, perfected version of it, is a very good rule for life.
Arnaud Marthouret