During the last year I have hidden out from COVID-19 and got settled into a hermit’s life, as I wrote about last August. It gave me more time to write. But now there are vaccines and some places are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. (Although India has taken a horrible turn.) Demand for COVID-19 vaccinations in America has peaked and is falling—to the point in that locations are taking walk-ins. Japan has been creeping along. Vaccinations for the general population have not even begun. I worry my turn won’t come until next winter. So I am being sorely tempted to travel to America, get vaccinated there, and spend a few weeks with my family. I haven’t seen them for over a year. I miss people.

My school started hybrid MBA classes in April. Some students are online and some in the classroom. It’s up to the students how they attend, and it breaks down about fifty-fifty. (The undergrads went from in-person classes in April to totally online when Tokyo entered its current state of emergency.) 

The COVID numbers are bad for Japan, but are still relatively light compared to America. I should be staying home as I did last year, but I don’t feel the danger as keenly as I used to. Staying home was affecting my mental health as well. Interestingly, it sort of crept up on me. I didn’t notice myself deteriorating, but it got to where I wasn’t even leaving the house to take a walk most days. I was not depressed. I am sure of that, because I know depression. But I think I would have been except for all the medication I’m on. My outlook, though, has taken a distinct upward and outward turn since I started commuting to school again. It’s interesting how we don’t notice a slow slide until it’s over.

So I am not a total hermit anymore. This is better for me. I’m still not talking to anyone except for my lectures, but I’m out in the crowd, a passive sort of sociality.