First post...

So… The world has changed a lot over the past few weeks. That’s not news. Corona, covid-19, the virus, call it whatever you want. Yes, yes, I know, Covid-19 is the source and corona is the result or something like that, I don’t know. And “the virus” sounds like something from a bad sci-fi show. Anyways, it doesn’t matter.

The point is, something weird happened, and we didn’t think this could happen, and now we all have to stay home all the time. 300000 people are confirmed to have been infected worldwide. Life has changed, faster than we thought possible. It’s highly confusing, and, in some ways, scary, for all of us.

For me, personally, things have changed a lot. I’ll start by giving you a little bit of info about myself. I’m Ane, I live in Bergen, Norway, and for the past 10 days, I’ve been quarantined. See, I’ve got this "neat" diagnosis called SMA II. It’s a genetic disorder, and it’s the reason why I’m a wheelchair user, depending on a lot of assistance to be able to live a semi-normal life.

But usually, that is exactly what I do, I live my life in a way that is as normal as possible. I drive my car to work in the morning, I spend the workday with other people, I go to meetings, rehearsals, and so on. I go to events, movies, shows. I take my dog out for walks. I go shopping. I go away for the weekend, or the whole week.

But, as of last Thursday, I’ve been stuck at home. I’ve been in my apartment, or on the porch right outside it. That’s it, I haven’t been anywhere else. See, this diagnosis that I have doesn’t only make my arms and legs weaker, it also weakens my lungs. A lot. So basically, if I catch corona, I’d probably end up very ill, or I might die. I’m one of those “persons with pre-existing medical conditions” that we hear so much about these days. And that means, no leaving the house for a while. I’m quarantined.

At first I thought I’d get so much done while this was going on. No driving through heavy traffic twice pr day = more time to do stuff! I could write some new scripts! Maybe a novel, even? I’ve always wanted to try, but I haven’t had the time. Now I have plenty of time. I still work a bit from home, but after that’s done I still have many, many hours each day where I could get a lot done. I just don’t.

I hear a lot of people have the same experience. We’re at home, we have time, there’s all this stuff we could be doing, but for some reason it’s so hard to concentrate. Suddenly, 12 hours have gone by, and, whoops, nothing’s been written, or tidied up, or sorted or planted or washed or whatever we wanted to do. Instead, we’ve watched some Netflix or listened to a few podcasts or read newspapers online (all about corona, of course). Or, if you’re like me… you’ve played The Sims 4.

I’ve played the Sims on and off since the first version came out more that 20 years ago. For those who aren’t familiar with it, it’s a game which is kind of a digital dollhouse. You create people (Sims), move them into houses, buy them furniture, get them jobs, hobbies, and so on. The past few years, I haven’t played a lot, I’ve mostly kept in on my computer because my little sister likes it.

But lately… it’s all I do. Even though I keep telling myself to go and do something more useful, there I am, building little houses and creating families and all that stuff. Last night I even dreamt about the game.

So I thought I’d try to get something out of all this seemingly meaningless gaming. I decided to start this blog, and to write something every day, about myself and my Sims. I’m stuck inside, but the Sims can still roam about their world, constantly on new adventures. This way, I’ll let myself play, but I’ll also make myself write. I’ll bring some structure into this weird limbo existence I’ve been living in lately. Well, that’s the hope, anyway.

So now I’m off to create a brand new Sim, and begin a new story. Tomorrow I’ll update this blog, and describe the first day of this Sim’s life. It might be boring as hell, I don’t know, but it’ll give me something to do. Wish me good luck! See you tomorrow!