​​

 

Since I can remember I have always been a time traveler. A courageous adventurer going through time and space of imaginary worlds. I have visited pirates’ bays and flown with fairies, fought for France while talking to whales about life and their wellbeing. 

Now, when I am older, my dreams tend to be much more about future possibilities within a human reach. I had to lay off my shabby time travel suit for later times and join real life.

You know how they say, “time flies when you are older”? I am not sure what the precise age is for being considered older, but I can confirm that it flies.

I felt a rush. I didn’t know what I was rushing for, but I felt like I had to follow. As if someone pressed a speed button, and it was no longer the magic of my travel suit.

So, I grew my legs to walk faster, becoming a disproportionate body of a somewhat adult persona, conquering towns and people with my giant feet. 

 

 

It has been one month since I have been in quarantine. To be precise, it has been thirty-three days since I have been existing within a 500m radius. Thirty-three days since time has stopped. Suddenly, no noise, no people rushing to metro stations, no overly busy coffee shops, no construction. Time has stopped, and it has become alarmingly quiet. Life became background noise and because you can’t hear, you open your eyes and start watching. So, I am observing patiently, watching the time and space transforming themselves and me.

 

 

My quarantine is filled with a constant flow of chaotic emotions, somewhere between frustration and contentment.

Frustration for our imposed beliefs and rights from the authorities. The lies that we were collectively forced to embrace in order to keep society in line. The misinformation and propaganda they fill our heads with by promising they know better. 

In a time like this, when the air smells like fear, people tend to turn to the authority for support and help, but what do you do when you can't trust those who vow to protect?

I was born in Belarus, a country of green lands and deep rivers, occasional cranes, brave soldiers, resistance, and potatoes.

​

Belarus, among many other things, is encouraging a rise of a strong nation. A nation of those brave in heart to disobey their feelings, desires, or wants—those who can peel off the skin of useless human flesh and become the one true superior man: a machine-man who advances economic progress.

 

There is a law in Belarus called a social parasite. It was created to penalize unemployment, meaning that “citizens who are unemployed for a certain time must reimburse the government for its expenses and pay fines to support government spending.”

With an average salary in Belarus of 114$ a month, people are already struggling to survive and have to juggle multiple jobs at a time. Most are scared to go into quarantine, afraid to lose their jobs and not be able to feed their families, while those who are in quarantine are seen as nothing but free-eaters who take advantage of government goods when the economy is crashing and, thus, must pay.

 

And, thus, we must work, 

because the always-hungry economy does not rest. 

We must produce 

and we must consume. 

We are parasites, just not social.

 

 

My contentment comes from beliefs. Beliefs that the world will turn into a better place, and that people re-discover compassion and hope. 

This situation, as selfish as it may be, gives me a place to breathe and be reborn. My feet felt tired of the giant legs I grew to catch up with something unattainable, so now I'm laying still and traveling in my dreams again.

I found myself feeling more grounded, being grateful for the small things, and developing some patience I’ve been lacking so much in this fast-paced environment. With my body becoming still and legless, I was able to observe more how I exist within my own space, changing the focus from the outside world and directing it towards an inside one. Ironically, by living smaller, I was able to expand the way I look at the world and how I interact with others. Sometimes, the limit of your room can become the biggest adventure of your life.

 

 

So, travel with me, my friend,

And I will show you what is behind the foggy scanners and Silicon Valley. 

Beauty surrounds us, yet the little people hide it well.

But if you follow me, 

with just a bit of hope,

we will find that magical place