Giving Compass' Take:

• Below are the eight most common trends in quarantine habits since the nation has gone on lockdown due to COVID-19. 

• One of the trends mentioned is ethical action and activism.  How are you participating in this trend during quarantine? 

• Read these five lessons in climate justice in the time of COVID-19. 

Cities are reopening. Lockdowns are lifting. And some people are starting to feel they can glimpse a return, however slow and partial, to “normal.”

But the pandemic has changed us. Although being on lockdown has been pretty grueling on balance, the surprise is that many of us have realized there are some things about quarantine life that are worth preserving. We’re questioning the very fundamentals of the “normal” we’d all come to unthinkingly accept — and realizing we don’t want to go back, not to that.

For some, going back isn’t even an option. Those who are grieving the loss of loved ones, for example, have suffered a tragic and irrevocable loss. Millions who’ve lost their jobs don’t have any work to go back to, and many essential workers have been working through the pandemic without much choice. Older and immunocompromised people are still advised to stay home.

At the same time, living in quarantine for months has offered some — mostly the privileged among us — a rare opportunity to reflect on our lives and, potentially, to reset them.

I asked Vox readers to tell me which specific changes they want to maintain as they emerge from quarantine and stumble their way to a new normal. More than 100 people responded across the globe, from the United States to the United Arab Emirates and from Portugal to Pakistan. Some broad trends leaped out in the responses. Below are the eight most common.

  1. Reducing consumerism
  2. Slowing down and putting less pressure on ourselves
  3.  Prioritizing family and friends
  4. Ethical action and activism in our highly interconnected world
  5. Exercising daily
  6. Baking, vegetarian cooking, and growing herbs
  7. Spending more time in nature
  8. Working from home, if possible

Read the full article about quarantine habits by Sigal Samuel at Vox.