Since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, I’ve been trying to stay active, healthy and focus on the safety of my family.

A few weeks ago, during my regular jog in my neighborhood, I noticed approximately 10 cars parked behind each other, and a couple of people standing next to their SUVs. At first, I was wondering about their presence. Part of me was mad, thinking that there was some kind of gathering at a nearby house. I automatically crossed the street respecting the social distancing rule.

From the opposite side of the street, and when I got closer, I saw kids’ heads peeking through the sunroofs and windows of these vehicles. Some were holding signs saying “Happy Birthday Sophie,” others were waving their arms holding gifts. I realized that my disappointment, although justified, was certainly premature. These people were not only all adhering to the six-feet social distancing rule, but most them were wearing mask and gloves as well. The smile on every single face was priceless. It was even contagious and transferred to my own face. That moment, I started thinking that this quarantine is forcing people to become more creative, artistic and resourceful.

A couple of months ago, these children would have expected to spend the whole afternoon at Sophie’s house celebrating her birthday. Today, they only spent 10 to 15 minutes and that seemed totally alright. They all appeared appreciative of this short time. More importantly, they seemed proud of their efforts.

From that moment, I started paying more attention to the behavioral changes that were occurring. The following week, I noticed more of my neighbors not only walking their dogs, but jogging or brisk walking. Now that people are not rushed for time, it appears that they are focusing more on being active, which is very beneficial to their health.

For a whole week, I spotted the same family of four walking together. Family bonding rarely happened during the day and everyday. Usually, children are at school and parents are at work. These observations peeked my curiosity and led me to look at how this quarantine was affecting the world in totality.

Italians are singing from their balconies, Lebanese are singing from the roofs of buildings adjacent to hospitals to show support for doctors. Countries are communicating together and sending the same message. From Dubai to the United States, major architectural buildings, monuments and bridges were illuminated to show solidarity in combating Covid-19.

This quarantine time, which I like to call downtime for my own sanity, is forcing people to connect together in ingenious ways. Today more than ever, and through social media, people from every corner of the world are trying to stay connected. This time their connection is momentous. They are not posting their selfies with the Eiffel Tower in the background or their lasagna plate, but they are posting about their efforts to help fight Covid-19.

A Mona from Jordan and a Samantha from London are sharing their stories of how to make masks from the safety of their homes. Others are sharing their artistic talents and encouraging their followers to discover their own artistic side. And more importantly, some are sharing their most vulnerable stories.

I view vulnerability not as weakness but as strength. I view it as a moment to connect with others when we are in pain, which in turns helps emotionally and psychologically.  And yet others are posting the funniest jokes to keep humanity’s spirit up. I truly believe that humor helps us get through difficult times as well as it helps us heal.

Like many, I cannot deny the fact that this pandemic is also making me nervous and anxious. But it is in these hard times that I’m trying to keep an optimistic attitude and force myself to focus on the positive rather than the negative. From an average Joe’s point of view, I believe that this quarantine brought out the best in many of us and allowed us to discover a dormant part of ourselves. From the silliest jokes to the most heartbreaking stories, from a simple “happy birthday” shout-out to a social media connection, people found a way for the first time to hold each other’s hands virtually, without competing, and without bias.

Our human nature is to always seek each other’s company and in the midst of the quarantine, we found creative ways to stay together. According to Aristotle, “Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human. Society is something that precedes the individual. Anyone who either cannot lead the common life or is so self-sufficient as not to need to, and therefore does not partake of society, is either a beast or a god.”

We proved that we are only humans.

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