My perspective has changed a lot during this quarantine and in a way that I hadn’t thought of before. 

Right now we’re all living a social distancing way of life, and depending on where you live, some of the restrictions are less, some are more. In either case, we are all living a different life than we had a few months ago.

I was thinking about the restrictions that are in place here at the Jersey Shore and suddenly they didn’t seem so awful. In fact, once I put it all into perspective I realized that my freedom hadn’t been taken away, just some of the things in life that are not really necessities, but luxuries.

For instance, most retail stores are closed, the bars and restaurants are “take-out” only, the movie theaters are closed and so are the hair salons. Unless you are an employee of the establishments, are they necessary? No, they are luxuries that we enjoy and perhaps, have taken for granted until now.

The retail stores may be closed but you can still order online. You may not be able to actually sit inside a restaurant or bar and be waited on, but you can get takeout meals and cocktails to enjoy in the privacy of your own home. You can’t go to a movie theater but you can get just about any movie on television through a number of different resources and the hair salons may be closed but some offer curbside pickup of hair coloring or you can order hair products online.

The fact is that the things we aren’t able to do right now are luxuries. We can still go to the pharmacy or food store, to the parks and beaches which are now open, and we can still order a meal that we don’t have to cook. We can still go outside to enjoy our backyards or walks around the neighborhood. 

The only thing missing is that we’re not being waited on for some of those things. We’re not being pampered at the salon or getting our dishes cleared after a meal at a restaurant. The list can go on and on but you know what I’m talking about.

We are living in a simpler time, one that existed many, many years ago. We’ve grown accustomed to being taken care of, yet we paid to be taken care of and pampered. We’ve learned to believe that all those things we can’t do right now were necessities, when in fact, they are luxuries. We’ve lost sight of the things we took for granted that we now are anxiously awaiting the return of. And we are now doing many of those things for ourselves.

I’d say that our vision has been much clearer since social distancing began and in a positive way. Many of us are looking at things we’re missing with a new found appreciation and I’m sure we’ll never take the smallest or biggest of things for granted again.

“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” Wayne Dyer

And I believe that with all my heart.

Wishing you love and light,

~Anne Dennish~