“Every day’s a new day. Stay safe, be diligent,” I emphatically say into camera while running down the center of newly vacant Willoughby Avenue, striding away from the cresting golden sunset.
Every day is a new day. Life is truly fleeting. And with all the latest developments, especially the sobering news of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, it becomes abundantly clear that every moment needs cherishing.
What’s scary is, we don’t know what’s coming next. We can only hope that, with a few months of concise mitigation, our world can slowly resume back towards a living economy for most of us.
Dire.
On March 19, Los Angeles declared, “Stay at home, except for necessities and exercise.” And so on March 20, I find myself running freely down the center of vacant Willoughby Avenue in Los Angeles, California. This is no coincidence either. Running is all I have left.
And at this point, you must know that I am not an ex-pat, or a Brit, but an American in Los Angeles, happily welcomed into Brits in LA by Craig Robert Young and Eileen Lee, in 2011, after starring in “127 Devours”, a Brits In LA “Toscars” parody of the Oscars-nominated film “127 Hours”.
Craig and Eileen made me feel at home in their country, while in my country, and I will always be eternally thankful for that. And when I’m out running on the roads, I start thinking, “Are we ever going to feel at home in our country again?”
So while striding down the middle of these empty L.A. streets, I organically start talking into my camera phone, maybe out of necessity, occasionally voicing my thoughts on the every-changing tumultuous daily events, such as helpful ideas, or finding zen moments amidst the madness. It makes sense to me.
Perhaps then, someone else out there will feel a little more at home, knowing we are all in this together, with a little laughter along the way.
“Quarantine? Quaranfree!” I smile into the camera, as colors enrich and music swells, at the start of each episode. Then a lighthearted theme playfully drops, and off I go into another adventure, sometimes thwarted by cross traffic, sometimes just smiling in the sun, sometimes surprised at the irony that befalls me in the moment, as the music fades away:
“Pretty desolate out here. Eerie. Reminds me of running on Christmas… except this time, there’s no Santa – it’s the Grim Reaper.”
This sober reality lands with a dry delivery, creating some needed levity — then quickly cutting back to the lighthearted theme music while I’m running across abandoned urban landscapes.
A good friend of mine, Sharon, recently posted a short video of a sign in her backyard, “live more. worry less”. This idea, right now, might make one cock-eyed at the thought, it seems impossible – live more, worry less?! – that is, until Sharon’s adopted backyard squirrel Pedro sprints quickly up the side of the sign and lightly dances along the wall behind it. That’s the point of it all.
Pedro doesn’t know about the pandemic. All the playful and spirited squirrel Pedro knows how to do is truly live, and with not a worry in the world.
So I guess that’s what I’m doing with this little info/therapy/comedy running series I’m making… definitely living a lot more, and for the few minutes I have you, yeah, worry less. And if you can’t worry less today, just know that every day is indeed a new day. And we’re all in this together.
Scott Urner has been a Brits in LA member since 2011. He’s a writer, actor and producer in Los Angeles, with a BA in English Literature from UCLA (’96) and an MFA from Loyola in Film Production (’02). Current episodes of @quaranfree can be found on Facebook, Instagram and Vimeo, and Scott hopes you stop for a moment every day and become quaranfree, too.
