As the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, people world-wide began to face lockdowns and quarantines. In rural Southern Ontario the pandemic quickly changed lives as, jobs disappeared, and people stayed home. Stories include:

Rose and Greg Yerex were quarantined onboard the cruise ship Diamond Princess when Covid19 broke out. When they tested positive, they were sent to a hospital in Japan before being cleared to return home to Port Dover, ON. There they self-isolated for another two weeks, just before Ontario’s shutdown in March 2020, so their abnormal life continued.

Nikki Campbell founded Art with Heart Studio in Simcoe, Ontario, a non-profit organization aiming to inspire people to be creative in the arts. The pandemic forced them to close and cancel programs just 5 days after they opened. During the shutdown they offered free art kits, an on-line art challenge, ana an on-line song writing class.

Filmmaker and locksmith Craig Watkins enjoyed getting creative work done and relaxing, some of the many benefits of pandemic enforced isolation. While film productions were shut down, he produced short videos like “Wanna make love…over SKYPE”.

Because of Covid 19 people have become more compassionate, have changed their thinking about the nature of work, and realized the importance of calmness and humour.