Locked Down

 Dearest SM,

Its been a few months that the world has been struggling with life and trying to find some semblance of reality and stability in this new world.

While most adults have bounced back to an almost normal life, the children are yet to see the day when they could run around barefoot through the public parks and gardens.

What hit me was an incident in the family where a little child of three now refuses to leave the home. He is mortally scared of the outdoors.

The day the lock down was announced, the parents sat the children down and explained to them the fears and consequences of the biological warfare on the human body. They painstakingly demonstrated the necessity of utilizing sanitizers and in a nutshell, keeping a good hygiene. 

The little one heard it all and his imagination painted him a picture of which horror movies are made: The outside had something ominous, one couldn't see it, one couldn't hear it...and yet it had to be avoided.

How does one avoid such an invisible dark force? The only answer he has is ti stay indoors and no amount of cajoling will drag him outside. 

We, as adults have found a way to reconcile the need for staying indoors and the need to leave the sanctity of the home. But we cant fathom the extent of stress and anxiety the little ones ha had to bear and what this entails psychologically on their emotional growth.. 

We yearn for the vaccine when we shall all finally breathe without the now mandatory mask. We also have a huge task to sit our children down and listen to them while they speak of their worries and concerns. For it is this bottling up and suppression of emotional tangles that may give rise to another heap of psychosomatic illnesses.

My best to you all.

Love always.

E