While the idea of escaping, crossing the house’s threshold to the outside world sounded enticing, so did stretching out on the couch and watching the Great British Baking show. At one point in his life, Blue had a taste for solo adventures. He had traveled the continent and across the globe. The delivery to the airport, freshly packed bag under toe, and entering the terminal with a Starbucks coffee were the panacea to the mundane life. His peers would be waking up in the same bed they’ve had for years. Drinking coffee from the same mug they bought for their first apartment. Heading off to work under cloudy skies to the same cubicle they sat in every week day. His life at the time he believed deserved every plaudit. He was the James Bond of his high school class.
Then COVID-19 happened. Life as he knew it came to a screeching halt. No more terminals or solo adventures. He had been grounded. The change set upon him as a sort of depression he had long forgotten. The mundane world without spikes of endorphins from unexpected new pleasures was suffocating. What was to become of him? He made the best use of his time possible at first. Home improvements, re-reading his classic literature, and long walks in the country. The silence of living alone with no distractions on his own mind was deafening. One month passed, then two, and before he knew it he had been home bound for over two years.
He had survived the pandemic, but had he? He may not have caught COVID, but he had caught something worse. He had come down with a severe case of Neophobia. The adventures of his past that would drive him out the door sounded exhausting and stressful. Suddenly, everything was to order without ever having to breach his home. His work lay before him on a screen. Groceries were delivered from a placement through an app. Only occasionally did it feel pertinent to exit and drive to someplace. Even in those instances his goal was to accomplish the task so that he may return home. Was he the only one experiencing this? Was Neophobia the new pandemic?
The once fearless man who could fly over oceans and eat foreign street food had caught COVID and died. In its place was this shell of a carcass waiting for this sickness to pass. What kind of doctor treats this sort of neurosis, he pondered? The answer he drew for himself was still more isolation. Every cell within him screamed to retreat whenever some inner voice suggested leaving. The hypnotic spell his TV and home had him under was solid and unwavering.
While flipping through feeds, it seemed society too had also gotten progressively unwell. It was regressing. They say history repeats itself, and he saw the future unraveling before his eyes. Hate drowning out empathy. A chasm the size of the Grand Canyon between the past and the future. It’s more like a subduction with inclusion, acceptance, and diversity being overrun. The dislike of diversity once buried in shadows was given light from new powers at top. The preoccupation of they neighbor removing the risk of introspection within.
Words of the day:
- Threshold – A threshold is a piece of wood, metal, or stone that lies across the base of a doorway. In figurative use, threshold refers to the point or level at which something begins or changes.
- Plaudit – enthusiastic approval.
- Panacea – an answer or solution for all problems or difficulties.
- Neophobia – The fear or dislike of the new.
- Terminals – a building where buses, trains, or planes regularly stop so that passengers can get on and off
Cover Photo by Siddhesh Mangela on Unsplash
Shaynanigans 