I’ll guess that, during the COVID-19 isolation period, wherever you are, you’ll have encountered some kind of Hostility, and with Ramadan starting (in South Africa, at least) officially now from the Maghrib prayer, some of us are going to be emotionally challenged. Well, shit, as if we have enough to take on, how much more can we really take? I mean, our jobs are at risk, people are abusing us at supermarkets, nobody’s making eye contact or smiling at us any more (at least that we’ve tried to reach out to) and most importantly, there’s no Pizza Hut we can order for a long, long time. Well, curses.

I had my own encounter of hostility, when I had to point out just freaking lucky we all are to be able to eat, practice our respective faiths, still communicate and enjoy dank Memes. Seriously, without our memes we wouldn’t survive. Or would we? Well, who cares. DON’T YOU DARE TAKE MY MEMES. I WILL KILL YOU.

That little outburst makes the perfect segue into what I want to discuss next: dealing with the nasties. I’m not talking about an empty sweet and chocolate cupboard. I’m talking about hostility. The kind which involve words you were punished for using as a kid, but your parents happily used. Double standards aside, let’s see what we can do.

Wish them well

“Hold on. Are you suggesting I be nice to that #$#@$##@$#$#@$# who just showed me a middle finger at the shopping center parking lot?”

Well, yes. I hate to admit it, but I too have succumbed to the temptation of raging against people. It is something I deeply regret. The main reason is that I could’ve been more graceful, assertive and dare I say it, loving. To those whom I was a raging asshole in the past, I apologise, truly. You know who you are. See, I realised some of us are having a truly horrid time at home, and not everyone has the luxury of decent alone time, which, if I lacked, would push me into being a hungry grizzly, claws out all the time. They might have to deal with grumpy and demanding kids, clingy dogs or worst of all, the same meal every day for an entire week at a time. The antidote here is to wish them well, and find some way to make their life easier. You may not have the favour returned, but hell, why not take some time to make someone’s day better?

Let them vent

Sometimes we need a release of anger, and have someone with empathy and a calm state of mind to calm us down. As long as you have “I just need to vent, it’s not personal. I just need to say this.” as a precursor to anything you’re going to say, the person listening is likely to listen. Then do them a favour and hear what they have to say. Sometimes the poison of pent up emotions must leave their system in order for them to heal. We need to release our energy, and if we cannot, we become toxic. No matter how stupid or unnecessary a person’s words, by letting them speak first, you get the chance to speak and show assertiveness toward something, which makes both parties happy.

Say thank you

Is that a can of beans in your pocket, or are you just happy not to make another special meal? Hmmm. As someone who will happily eat the same meal over five days I am fortunate enough to be happy with this lack of choice. Some of us are not. If the person you’re shacked up with is making baked beans for the third day in a row, say thank you. It might make their day for you acknowledge their efforts.

Break the monotony

Embrace the weirdo within. Isolation allows us to expose our crazy in a way we have not before. Nothing compares to the feeling of liberation you get from truly expressing yourself. Hell, I”m doing it here. I get Likes for it too, I really don’t know why. I’m grateful regardless. Thank you, everyone, for actually reading my brain farts. Let’s get back to breaking monotony, then.

Here are some ideas which may make things interesting:

1.Make paper mache chickens. They rock. Just clean up after yourself you filthy animal.

2. Make a colour in mask from Friday the 13th.

3. Play hide and seek in a closet you’ve never fully explored (And realise how much crap you’ve accumulated). Look out for skeletons and let them out.

4. Play Depeche Mode’s Enjoy the Silence. Realise how awesome this band really is ,and, enjoy the silence for real at the end of the track as your mind explodes from awesomeness. (Don’t judge me. I think ’80s music rocks.)

5. Teach your cat or dog tricks. (or children, should you lack both)

6. Remember how awesome Steve Irwin was. Don’t let it sting that he died.

I hope this helped and that this piece has helped brighten up your day. If you think this blog post is lit, please feel free to leave a Like and comment, and as always, thank you for reading.