Covid Series: The World Needs More Simplicity

Guest Writer: Emily Crane Lake, Minnesota

I am quarantined in Crane Lake Minnesota. My husband, Michael, and I are supposed to be in South Carolina visiting my parents right now. COVID said otherwise.

We are very lucky to be self-quarantined at Michael’s grandma’s cabin. It is very comfortable and has everything we need.

Even in a town of less than 100 people, COVID-19 feels very real. This morning I visited my neighbor to see if she needed anything. I stood on the porch, 6 feet away while she talked to me through her screen door. Even up here where there are 2 restaurants to choose from on a normal day, we can only get to-go food from them. 

We are self-quarantined on a voluntary basis, but quite honestly our daily lives here haven’t changed… yet. Michael and I get up around 7 am and leave at 8 to take a snowmobile to our house (we are building a house right now.) Then we work until about 5 pm, come back, make dinner, relax and go to bed.

We have been pretty much on this same schedule since January 7th (aside from a small vacation that turned into a really small vacation due to the virus). The only major changes now are we can’t invite our friends over in the evenings or go out to eat. We really don’t get any human interaction aside from each other, but we are used to that. 

When I said that our lives here haven’t changed yet I mean that while right now we are doing the same things every day that we have been doing for months. May 1st everything should change.

We make all of our money for the year between May and October. This means that during those 6 months it is GO TIME and we are usually working 60-90 hours a week in the summer. Because we have such a short window, if the pandemic lasts another 6 weeks or 6 months we are going to be in huge trouble.

We are still in the first few years of growing a business from scratch, and although we are very pleased with how the first few years have gone, we are still in the beginning stages and things are fragile and the turn in the economy could really hurt us. Things are scary.

I woke up on March 17th in tears. It all hit me at once that this Coronavirus and the economic impact it has is very real. Loved ones are in danger, many of my friends are out of a job, and if it continues.. we could be out of a job too. On the other hand, I am joyful about the positive impacts that this scary virus has on the environment and our togetherness as a country.

I think that the world needs more simplicity. Before the COVID quarantine, most people would consider themselves “busy” at all times.

Busy with work, with school, with family, with parenthood, with care taking, etc.

Where does this get us?

If there is no time to stop and ask a stranger how they are doing, or time to sit a little extra longer with your coffee in the morning, or time to pick some flowers or meditate or call a friend, then all of a sudden you have forgotten how to enjoy the little things.

And when we can’t enjoy the little things, the world seems plain and we feel lost.

We work ourselves to death and at the end of it all….for what?

There is a reason why we enjoy unplugging, whether its relaxing on a beach or backpacking through the wilderness.

When we do these kinds of things, life is simple.

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