I can’t believe it’s been ten days since I’ve been working from home and not meeting with anyone face-to-face.

The virtual happy hour chat with my ladies golf group – Golfbags – certainly helped eased the feeling of being confined. I’m glad to “see” everyone in good spirits (no pun intended) and to know that most are coping with the shelter-in-place order as best as we all can. These group video chats are helpful and I encourage those of you who have not tried it yet, to do so. Organize a common time with your friends and family wherever you all are just to touch base and chat. We are social beings and we definitely need some social stimulation to lift our spirits. It’s fun, too, to make it a theme chat. Have fun with it.

A $2 trillion stimulus package was agreed and negotiated between the US Congress and the White House. I’m glad that there is a safety net for people who found themselves suddenly jobless 10 days ago and for small business owners suddenly without any means to earn their keep. Today, California hit more than a million mark for unemployment claims since the CoVid19 crisis began 10 days ago. I hope the package passes the Senate without any delay. Hourly employees, most of whom are living paycheck to paycheck need a lifeline and soon. This is the largest stimulus package in modern history. We’re not at war in the normal sense but it feels like I am witnessing something akin to one. Corona Virus – a modern enemy no country has ever been prepared to handle. The United States has all the modern warfare its coffers can muster but as we are already seeing and hearing daily in the news, it is grossly unprepared for this one. GROSSLY UNPREPARED.

Towards the end of my day, I got another news flash on my phone – the second most populous country in the world, and a continent on its own – India – just announced a nationwide lockdown and is asking its residents of 1.3 billion people to stay at home. This is depressing in a lot of sense because 64 million of them, roughly 1/3 of its population, live in the slums. (Source: CBC News, March 2013). Some don’t even have a place to sleep.

Not wanting to succumb to depression, I decided to go in the backyard and do some weeding. The sun is peeking a bit though chilly but I needed some fresh air. I also needed a distraction from what’s going on in the world.

I count myself and my hubby as part of the luckier ones. We at least have a small front and backyard that we can “explore” if we start feeling the cabin fever inside. We can still take a walk outside but the weather has been iffy the past few days. It was only today when the sun intermittently came out and I took advantage of the blessing.

Admittedly, since the shelter-in-place order nine days ago, I haven’t really had the inkling to go out and take a walk. For some reason, I’ve sort of been behaving like I’m on quarantine. Probably my psyche is empathizing with my friends in the Philippines. In the capital, Manila, only one per household is allowed to do essential trips outside the home per day and each household is issued a card pass to get them in and out. A curfew has been in place as well. Anyone violating the rule and curfew is subject to fine or if deemed a grave offense, jail time.

We’re still luckier to have our freedom of movement. Something to be thankful for compared to other citizens of the world who’ve been ordered to give up their freedom for the common good.

We all have to make sacrifices in order to survive.

Ours is minor. We’re still blessed. Another reason to wake up for another tomorrow!