Lockdown — End.

There is an image that keeps popping in my head. Maybe I have read it, seen it in a movie. I cannot pinpoint it. But it is there.

A powerful genie. Bound. Gets his (or her) powers back in an instant surge. His spine becomes straighter; he changes height, the head is no longer bent; there is a glow and a joy.

Tonight we went out of the state of emergency where I live. By all means, out of the lockdown. We got our constitutional rights back, in an instant surge. There is a new vibe in the air. Passive resistance to a restriction that was needed, but not wanted.

Some time ago, I visited a stalinist prison — one of the famous ones. In the middle of nowhere, no tree, creek, or river for miles. The thought that hit me then was the fact that the landscape can oppress as much as a dictator. A lockdown can oppress as much as dictator even when we understand the reason for it.

Rousseau said that ”man is born free and everywhere he is in chains.” We have the freedom in our genes. We crave it like that genie when it is taken away, for no matter which reason.

We are outside the chains. Maybe for a night. Maybe for more. We shall battle this public health issue as free people.

Was it necessary? Yes. The situation was as such that we are more afraid of hospitals than we are of the virus. So measures were needed not to put pressure on the hospitals. And we worked more and stayed away from family, from friends, from life.

So tonight we are celebrating. Fireworks are heard throughout the city. The genie is unbound again. Perhaps he shall do the same tasks, but the spine is straighter, the height is back, the head is upright. There is a glow and a joy.

Freedom.