We are all getting too used to cabin fever. Don’t get me wrong, being at home with my family is still -by far- my favourite place to be. But there is something about the necessity of ‘staying here’ that can make the experience taxing. In a normal week, I usually get some time to myself. Not so much these days. Oddly, staying at home and never being alone just keeps leading further into isolation.

I am sure I am not alone, and I am not even trying to complain about it, as there are so many worse stories out there. Even in my privileged, relative safety, I know that more than ever, isolation is a shared experience. We have all felt the oppressive weight of it, bearing down on our shoulders and trapping us in our seats. The panic sets in, the wild thoughts, the itch to move and stay still all at the same time. Worst of all comes oppression of an uncertain future.

Again, I know this is something that we have all felt, to varying degrees, over the past few years. It is a common experience. And while I would not choose to go through this again, I also want to embrace the experience while it is here.

Don’t get me wrong, it is horrible. But we cannot always be inspired by the brighter side of life, by the happy emotions that are so much more appealing. We need to take these precious moments of terror and explore them, write about them, catalogue and understand them. Hopefully, these are moments that we will never have to live through again, but they give us a perspective, a unique opportunity, that we need to seize while it is here.

Just like we should avoid writing only when we are in a good mood, we need to actively write when we are in a negative headspace. There is no better time to capture the most human moments that we will ever live.