Your quarantine story

5 min readApr 12, 2020

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun? — Langston Hughes

There have been numerous articles, essays, and even books written on the value of time. Almost all have a common theme: time is more valuable than money, since you can make more money, but you can’t make more time. If this is true, and I believe it is very true, then most of us have been given this exceptional gift as perhaps the greatest silver lining of the Covid-19 pandemic. Using that time wisely, in the face of grief, human suffering, and worldwide economic upheaval, is a tremendous challenge. Now is the time to muster up every last drop of self-discipline and capture this opportunity, that may not come again in our lifetimes.

Get inspired

I find that reflecting on the achievements of others, especially where I can find specifically relevant examples of how others spent time in quarantine, helps motivate me. While I don’t intend to write King Lear, knowing that Shakespeare wrote it while in quarantine during the Bubonic Plague is a great source of inspiration. Knowing that he also wrote Macbeth and Antony and Cleopatra helps get me out of bed each morning a little faster. There are many other examples of great artists taking advantage of the found time in quarantine to produce great work (check out https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/620764/productive-people-in-quarantine).
As a jazz saxophonist, another variation of quarantine comes to mind, and is considered a reason many already fantastic jazz musicians became absolute virtuosos: prison. Think of Art Pepper, Sonny Criss, or Joe Pass, just to name a few. But of course many others, not just musicians, used time while jailed to accomplish great things. If you find yourself thinking of quarantine as a form of house arrest, I wouldn’t disagree with you, but I would still challenge you to find inspiration from these various sources and make the most of your time.

Discover your routine

I don’t think creating a routine works for everyone. While some truly desire and flourish with rigid structure, others need variety and spontaneity. Of course each is equally valid, so that is why you just need to find your routine. Now that a few weeks have passed, most of us are settled into a groove. Very likely, you are getting up at about the same time each day. If you have a family, you are eating breakfast around the same time, and getting kids started on their online lessons. Look back on what you’ve been doing, note the regular things that need to happen each day, like meals, work, breaks, perhaps family time — whatever else you decide. You’ll probably observe that you’ve been doing them at roughly the same time each day. Formalize it, and you have a routine.

Prioritize

In many ways, this will be the real key to how wisely you use your time. The temptation to binge on Netflix, chain watch YouTube, or otherwise waste away the day is enormous. I find setting priorities to be helpful in keeping me focused on what I really want to try and accomplish. You could easily call these goals or use lists — whatever it takes for you to focus on the things you’ve always wished you had time for, and now you do. By definition, much of the TV viewing we do is “by demand”, so the shows aren’t going anywhere. Of course you can always observe your routine, and find time for TV. For example, since I have worked from home for the past 7 years, I’ve had a habit of watching TV while I eat lunch, since I’m usually having lunch alone. I’ve carried that forward during quarantine, and use that time to catch up on news stories, or browse on YouTube, but now my wife, and sometimes my kids, join me. Decide what’s important to you and try to spend some time each day on it.

Living your dream

If you have already been living your dream, I hope you can continue to do so during this pandemic. I can only imagine what so many small business owners are experiencing, as they are not able to work and do something that they love. My wife, an attorney, who opened her own practice only one year ago, has had to close shop indefinitely, until courts open again, and she can resume her cases. In the meanwhile, she has focused on all the neglected projects around the house, from something as simple as cleaning out the junk drawer in the kitchen, to more serious scale decluttering of bedrooms and closets. But she has also found some joy and accomplishment in sewing masks and spending time helping our kids with schoolwork. While her dream is, at least temporarily, deferred, for many of us this may be the time to start living ours. I had at one time dreamed of being a writer, and attended the University of Iowa as an undergraduate, majoring in English, with aspirations of attending the esteemed and famous Writers Workshop. I did get a BA in English, but then ended up working in IT. As a creative passion, I began to play the saxophone while at Iowa, and fell in love with music. The writing took a backseat for decades, until now. And so here I am writing my second article on Easter Sunday morning, the very next day after writing my first article.

While at Iowa, I had the chance to meet the chair of the Writers Workshop at that time, Frank Conroy. I asked him if he was still writing (a naive and ridiculous question, in hindsight). He said very kindly and simply, “Oh yes, everyday, just like batting practice.” And that’s all I really needed to know about what it means to be a writer, or to be anything in life, really. You have to do it everyday, just like batting practice.

Whatever your dream is, you may never get an opportunity like this again to at least take the first step in making it a reality.