Last week, the world quickly moved past beyond „Keep calm and wash your hands”. It was frightening lose even the illusion of any control we may have had over the world or our lives.

I was traveling until Saturday, almost till it was too late. There was a real risk of getting stranded somewhere. When we finally arrived home, like a good boy, I sent a quick note to our family doctor that we were home and we were OK. He promptly answered with ”If you can, please place yourselves in voluntary quarantine for at least fourteen days”. So we did that as we planned for that anyway (as much as one can plan anything these days).

I am quite the introvert. But it’s one thing to choose to isolate myself (and to come out of isolation anytime I want), and it’s a completely different story to be locked up and closed down and to have absolutely no say in when that closedown ends. So yes, I am quite the introvert but at the same time I hate to be alone.

In my very limited volunteering experience, the best message a support group can send is “You’re not alone”. If the group manages get that feeling across, it will have achieved most of its goal. Everything else is the cherry on top. Being left alone in facing adversity is the worst.

So, I thought I’d start The Quarantine Diaries, a blog with a minuscule post every day, to share the petty reality of being confined at home – and to shout out to everyone that you are not alone, you are cared for, and that the much-despised social media can be your tether to others and to normality. Not that you don’t know this yourself – but isn’t it a good feeling to know that others know, too?

I’m not afraid to post cliché on cliché every day. But I don’t want to write them all myself. Send me your stories if you want to: I will post a link to your blog if you want, but I’ll be happy to include your text as a guest post, too. (Disclaimer: It will all be in English, and I reserve the right to decide to post or not post, and to edit your story as I see fit. Oh, and I don’t pay. But you have the right to have me take your text down and post it elsewhere.)

Stay home. Stay safe. But don’t be a stranger. You’re not alone.