There have been two things that have helped me survive quarantine: Dungeons & Dragons and volleyball. When we first started the lockdown in March/April, I started playing Dungeons & Dragons with my wife, brother, and sister-in-law several times a week over the internet.
I had never played D&D before. When I was a kid, I equated D&D with, if not quite devil worship, then something along those lines. I don’t know why since I had absolutely no idea what D&D was.
Then, as restrictions began to loosen over the summer, we started playing volleyball with our neighbors every Saturday night. We were all outside and volleyball is not a contact sport. Hell, the way we play it, it is barely a sport at all. Especially considering that most of us were drinking throughout each evening and could only laugh as our mad skills slowly deteriorated until the sun set.
Both D&D and volleyball were bright ports in a storm of pandemic shit. They both brought a sense of normalcy to what wasn’t. They gave me something to look forward to and, for the bulk of the summer, were the only things in my life I could use to differentiate each day.
They brought me closer to people I love and want to hang out with. They strengthened relationships for a person who does not come easily to them.
They brought me joy and made me feel human.
And how bittersweet to think that neither would have happened were it not for the world falling apart. I hate and love 2020.