“This Virus Has Made Me Realize the Importance of Living in the Moment.”
Faces of Quarantine-One Virus Many Faces: Saima Malik Dhillon
Since the lockdown, my life is wholly altered; the children are home and my work ceased for a while, and now its re-starting. However, there is uncertainty and unpredictability about the future. But I also feel optimistic, and I am fortunate enough to see a silver lining. I am generally an optimist anyway, so for me, I try to find the best in the most difficult situations.
The good thing is that I have had a lot of bonding time with my daughters. As a family, we sit and talk in a non-judgemental zone. We have rules- no one can interrupt or interfere with the other, anyone can say anything, and we only speak when it is our turn. Bad language, anger, everything is acceptable during that time frame. For us, our primary focus has been family bonding- we are getting to spend time with each other, learning from our children. We have reversed the role, and instead of imposing our thoughts and vision on them, we are learning from them.
As a community, I feel we all need to be mindful and contribute mindfully. We need to be careful not just for us but for people who have low immunity as well as elderly folks who suffer from multiple ailments. My message to everyone is to be careful and mindful. Spend this time in both self-reflection as well as healing- physically, mentally, and emotionally. If you are like me and have children and family at home- slow down and enjoy the moment.
For me, the most shocking thing was that the world just stopped-everything around us just stopped. Will this ever be entirely over? I don’t know. But what I do know is that the world is taking a new course. We will do things differently. Perhaps even slow down, live in the moment and value relationships.
I always see the glass as half full, and this virus has made me realize the importance of living in the moment. Valuing the time we spend with our loved ones. My favorite quarantine story was my daughter’s driveby birthday. All my family and her cousins came in their cars, and we surprised her for her 19th Birthday. There was music on the street and a car pulling up and cutting her cake on the road. She will always remember this Birthday.
Once this is over, the first thing I will do is to jump in an airplane and travel!
Saima Malik Dhillon is a REALTOR® • Speaker • Traveler • Philosophile • Humanitarian • A Non-Conformist
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