Billie Eilish has built her entire brand on keeping things real. And in a recent interview with the Telekom Electronic Beats podcast, she got real about COVID-19 and how it put her life into total lockdown.
It’s rare to hear a celebrity speak so openly and honestly about both her struggles and her state of mind. By reading about Billie Eilish’s time during lockdown, all of us can potentially learn more about handling unwanted social isolation and anxiety.
Coronavirus Changes Tour Plans
Headlines about Billie Eilish being in lockdown may seem pretty scary at first. And many of her fans initially worried that the young singer may have contracted the coronavirus herself.
Fortunately, this is not the case. But Eilish is taking the entire thing very seriously, placing herself in complete lockdown to avoid endangering herself and others.
She went as far as to postpone her North American tour in March and offer her fans some typically blunt advice about the virus via Instagram. She wrote, “Don’t panic, but don’t be stupid.”
Eilish hopes her fans will take all of this seriously, and she’s currently leading by example.
The Big Deal About COVID-19
During the interview, Eilish opened up about what makes COVID-19 such a big deal. Beyond things like mortality rates and death counts, she sees the virus as a threat to our way of life that nobody could really see coming.
According to Eilish, “Everybody knows that you can lose anything at any time.” While we understand this on an intellectual level, “we never thought we would lose seeing our friends, and going out and having fun. We never thought that we wouldn’t be able to at a certain point.”
On this matter, she is 100% correct. While we understand that death and sickness can come at any moment, most of us weren’t prepared to live for months in total isolation. This represents an unprecedented loss during an equally unprecedented time.
Lessons Learned (Or Not)
Billie Eilish has made it her mission to educate people about how serious this virus really is. In her heart of hearts, though, she doesn’t think that people will remember the lesson very long.
In the interview, she forecasted that people would spend “about three days” being “so happy and grateful” once this is all over. After that, she’s sure “we’re all going to take it for granted again.”
It’s kind of bleak to imagine that most of the world will learn nothing from this crisis. Then again, Eilish has never pulled her punches when it comes to sharing tough truths with the world.
Redefining Social Isolation
After a few weeks, the reality of social isolation began kicking in for most people. In order to combat feelings of loneliness, people are playing online games, hosting themed Zoom parties, and generally trying to connect with the outside world.
Interestingly, Billie Eilish has had no urge to do this. The interviewers asked her if she had downloaded different apps to video chat with friends and family. Eilish replied, “If I’m being honest, I haven’t wanted to. It sounds so introverted and lonerish, but I’ve been really enjoying being alone.”
Eilish helps underscore that there is nothing wrong with using this time to reconnect with yourself instead of connecting with other people.
Some Rare Peace and Quiet
If her attitude towards isolation seems odd, Eilish helped put things in context later in the interview. “I’m good being alone. I like being alone. I haven’t had this time off since like I was like 12.”
She’s not exaggerating, either. The celebrity singer is only 18, and she first gained musical fame at 13 when she and her brother uploaded “Ocean Eyes” to Soundcloud. Since then, her life has been a whirlwind of music, fame, and a small mountain of awards.
Given how much of her young life has been spent performing in the public eye, it’s not hard to see why she is digging her current social isolation.
Pets Are the Exception
Billie Eilish may be happy to enjoy some time away from other people. But that doesn’t mean that her home is entirely alone!
She recently began fostering two puppies named Jim and Miss Maudie. In the interview, she described fostering the dogs as both “amazing” and as a “full-time job.” Rather than hating her doggie duty, Eilish has been making the most of this opportunity, asking her interviewers, “When else am I going to have time to do that?”
She’ll Never Be the Same
While Eilish is skeptical that most of the world will learn from this COVID-19 crisis, her own life will never be the same.
She told the interviewers she was going to try her “hardest” to not take things for granted, although she hastened to add, “I don’t know if I’ll be able to because obviously I’m human like everybody else,”
Though she admitted she wasn’t perfect, Eilish said, “I’ll try my hardest to be so grateful to be around people and socializing again.” Just as she has been a role model when it comes to taking this virus seriously, the singer hopes to be a role model for making the most out of each day once this crisis has passed.