Why Now?

The year is 2020. It’s April Fool’s. I’m stuck at home. I can.

COVID-19 has taken the world by storm. Rising not-so-subtly from China, it has now spread to almost every continent, and all metrics indicate we’re about to reach our global peak in infections. Fear and confusion has crippled the masses, while a few others stay in denial of its influence. Here in Kuwait, we’re in lockdown, a curfew has started at 5pm, and similar actions have been taken in China, India, the United Kingdom, the United States, and most other countries. There are those who reacted early and quickly, and there are those who think they can avoid a complete shutdown. The global economy had the largest reaction (the kind your mother would make if you sat in an air-conditioned room with damp hair, which to be fair to mothers, actually makes you sick… after the age of 30). We’ll talk about the economy later.

Wherever we are in the world, social distancing has become our norm- meaning stay at home, don’t gather with people, and if you do go out, block any possible form of physical exchange with another being (Cooties 101). With all that time on our hands, confined to our homes, and kept away from each other, what can we do?

The real question is, where do we begin?

I’ve always loved writing, and I’ve always loved reading. Writing a blog intrigued me for a while now. Writing is how I think. I don’t write for people, I write for me. What held me back was the thought that I don’t have as much knowledge, nor do I have as much linguistic skills as others do, so why should I publicize it and embarrass myself? After observing for 31 years, I now know no one can claim that. We’re all on a never-ending path of learning, and sharing is the fast track. That’s what a blog is- sharing. It is not facts, nor is it undeniable knowledge, but a ledger used by individuals to sift through the thoughts in their mind that give meaning to their life.

And what better time to start than in quarantine?

I have no goals with this. It won’t matter if 3 or 300,000 people read it. I won’t commit to a set amount of words or posts, nor to regular postings. I won’t even commit to a subject. My only commitment is the free escape of thoughts from my mind to the keyboard. Whatever I learn, I’d like to share. Whatever I get wrong, I’d like to fix. Whatever I get right, I’d like others to build on.

The pandemic forced us to ditch our schedules, ditch our routines, ditch our habits. It pushed us into an undisclosed, undiscovered realm of disorder. Now here’s the catch, disorder is what nature is all about. This shouldn’t feel weird and uncomfortable, this should feel just right. We should all get used to this, get back to the core of human nature, and live the present moment (which knows nothing of the past or future). Keeping a schedule is attempting to manipulate your future, it is unnatural. I decided the blog posts will be listed in negative numbers, so the next one will be (-1). Why? Because we need to get used to things that change direction, we need to get used to the unknown, we need to get used to the natural. Now negative numbers don’t really exist in nature (or so we think), they’re human-made in order to comprehend the abstract. So I put parentheses to negate the negative (so technically, it’s positive). All things natural here 🙂

It is the perfect time for you to catch up on your work, on your relationships within your home, and on things you’ve always wanted to learn – so ignore the news for a bit, stay home, and start your journey.

Here’s a few things I’ve done since lockdown:

• Cooking (using my own recipes)
• Grooming my two poodles (image below)
• Coding (just started today, maybe this is a real April Fool’s, we’ll see)
• How to set up a brand new television (box-to-Netflix)
• Restart learning French
• Restart learning knitting
• Basic Manicures
• Basic Facials

Not to mention all the work, reading, and reorganizing I’m catching up on. And I’m just getting started.

So for today, all I want to say is, there was never a better time in history to pick up some skills. Be positive because life usually plays out that way, be productive because that’s what makes us feel good, be healthy because nothing else would matter.

I’m feeling extra grateful today.

Thank you for shifting our lives and adjusting our priorities.

Thank you for the chance to make a positive change.

Thank you for redirecting us to the better path.

Thank you for reminding us what truly matters.

— Anwaar AlMahmeed أنوار المحميد (@AnwaarAlMahmeed) April 1, 2020