Quarantine Has Canceled Culture

A West LA resident’s hand-written sign that says, “Hello neighbors! Stronger together (but 6 feet apart)” is hung up on a staircase to help encourage neighbors struggling during the pandemic.

During times of crisis, fear, and confusion, human beings turn to their cultural traditions and practices for comfort, support, and stability. While there isn’t one widely accepted definition of “culture,” you can understand that your culture includes everything that makes your life meaningful: your religious traditions, your identity, the people you consider to be family and friends, the activities you fill your days with. And, under lockdown, all of these cultural elements are suddenly missing from our lives during a scary time when we actually need them the most.

In addition to massive job losses and enormous fear attached to this new, sometimes fatal virus, you’re likely also weighed down by the dark cloud of depression because you no longer have the cultural structure that you typically use to relieve anxiety. Consider this: the very nature of being alive causes human beings to feel powerless and confused. Often, bad things will happen to good people while good things happen to bad people. Sometimes, we won’t succeed at a goal that we genuinely worked hard to achieve — life can feel horrifyingly random. All of these elements of life cause human beings to feel confused, overwhelmed, and to seek out something reliable.

We build cultural structures to create a sense of control and comfort. In quarantine, we’ve all been stripped of that essential structure that…