I think that’s a question we’ll be asking ourselves and people we meet for years to come. How did quarantine change you? What did you spend your time doing? Did you discover something new about yourself?
For many of us, the beginning of quarantine reminded us of everything we couldn’t do. For me, I couldn't enjoy what might’ve been my last spring in Boston (I’m supposed to go to LA this spring for school but we’ll see if that happens now). I couldn’t live with my friends in the city over the summer. I couldn’t celebrate my birthday in Vegas with my parents and friends. Which brings me to my first point -
1. Looking on the bright side
At the end of the day, all that mattered was being healthy and at home with my family.
Surely it took a day or two to mourn the loss of my future plans, but after that, it didn’t seem too important in the grand scheme of things. Millions of people lost their jobs and were looking into an uncertain future; health care and essential workers were, and still are, risking their health and making sacrifices for us; and all I could do was my part to stay home. I made sure to appreciate the nothingness while it lasted.
I started viewing quarantine like my second semester senior year of high school: I didn’t have as much homework, I was done with class at noon, and I had lower stress levels and more free time than ever. I took it all in, enjoyed the boredom, because I knew my freshman year of college was going to be hard. And I was right.
The beginning of the pandemic was kind of like that, a lull in our always-on-the-go lives, a break if you will, and at some point regular life would resume and we would all become busy again (which we now are for the most part).
I told myself to enjoy the lull, enjoy the time we had on our hands because it was uncertain how long it would last.
In a year, I’m going to graduate from college and get a job (I hope) and work for eight hours everyday for five days a week until I retire (yayyy). I knew I would be busy again. And for the time I had left to do a whole lot of nothing, I was going to enjoy it. Before I started working as a full-time babysitter later in the summer, what I did with all that time brings me to my second point -
2. Dedicate more time for my To-Do lists
Time was not slowing down, even if it felt like it sometimes.
I knew I wanted to come out on the other side of quarantine and ask myself what I accomplished, what I decided to spend my time doing and why.
Making time to do the things you want to do can be hard when life gets in the way, but it felt so good to check a few things off my list. The big project I finally completed was creating this website. I’ve designed a website every year for the past three years and either ended up hating the design or the concept. The website fell into place once I realized that what you think about all day is what you end up manifesting. It’s been a long road to get here, and I could not be happier to start this journey.
The second big project was redecorating my room. I want to make a separate article talking in-depth about it if home decor / inspo sounds interesting to you guys! For now I’ll say the major takeaway from that endeavor is that painting a ceiling is a lot harder than it looks. And my mom was the most patient person when it came to me picking the paint color! ;)
3. Appreciating the little things
We’ve all heard that saying before, “Appreciate the little things.” But when quarantine forces you into only doing ‘the little things’, you understand the phrase a whole lot better.
I spent more quality time with my parents, which I probably love doing more than most 21 year olds. I was lucky enough to spend two months in Tahoe and loved every second boating on the lake; waking up early to waterski, smelling the fresh pine air, and relaxing by the beach in the afternoons.
I cuddled with my dog every night. I learned how to play a few more songs on my ukulele. I watched new TV shows (and rewatched a few old ones). I was probably the happiest I’ve ever been, and you must hold on to the things that make you feel that much joy. The day this all really hit me was the morning I woke up at the crack of dawn to watch the sunrise over Tahoe.
I remember sitting on my paddle board thinking about how the pandemic took the opportunity of many potential grand adventures, but it left room for the little ones, the simple ones.
You must find your little adventures in the absence of your grand ones, and they will surprise you - they’ll turn out to be the ones you remember more, the ones you treasure, the ones that bring you closer to euphoria.
This summer had been a string of little adventures, and I knew from that moment on the simple things in life would always measure up to the grand ones. Especially during these unprecedented times (had to throw that phrase in here somewhere lol) when there’s not much to hold on to, you must find the things that pull you away from everything else and bring you completely into the moment.
4. Learning more about the black lives matter movement
I spent a lot of time this summer educating myself about this country's (many) issues and how racism is woven into the system of our everyday lives, as I assume many of us did. To all the people I follow on Instagram, I saw your posts and your stories about racism and police brutality, links to informational websites, petitions to donate to, and numbers to call. I read all of them. It became a part of my regular routine in the morning to see what more I could do to take action and learn. The strength of this movement has been incredible to see and I hope we can keep striving one step at a time towards change.
5. Forgetting how to socialize
Does anyone else relate?!?! No, yes? Maybe it’s just me? I feel like since I’ve been back in Boston with my friends I’m more of an introvert than I was pre-pandemic. I know it’s because I hung out with my hometown friends a total of three or four times during quarantine that my social graces are a little rusty, but I didn't think I changed that much.
I’ve always been the type of person who’s down to have a good time, but needs space to recharge afterwards. Nowadays I'm more comfortable being by myself than I was before. And while that space was good, it left me reminiscing about times before Covid when I was more willing to hangout with my girlfriends on a 24-hour basis.
6. It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows
On my final note, I will say that it wasn't all "learning and growing and appreciating" all the time. The pandemic restrictions still make me feel lonely and continuously remind me of the things we can no longer do. I think the most prominent one of them all, for me, is being part of a crowd.
I went to a concert during the last normal weekend before quarantine and I'm so lucky that I got to take it all in. Because there’s a moment at every concert when you look around and see hundreds of people beside you, and at that moment you’re not individuals but one collective; singing the same words, clapping to the same beat, and feeling the same happiness and gratitude to be experiencing that.
The same thing happens when you look out the window of a plane. You see the vastness of the world, and down on the ground when you’re living your little lives you forget this vastness and this beauty. You look out at the horizon and the puffy clouds and feel a calmness, a weightlessness, that no other view can bring upon you. You look down at the twinkling lights and wonder what the people are doing in their houses or what song they're singing to on the radio in their cars. You're reminded that the world is a whole lot bigger than you know. Maybe it makes you feel a little less lonely, a little more connected in some way. It's a view I've missed and will continue to miss while it isn't safe to travel.
Even going to a restaurant isn't the same despite their efforts to make it that way. The atmosphere of a busy restaurant with everyone's conversations mushing together to create one loud background noise is now restricted by walls between tables or limited seating.
Maybe I’m the only one that’s had these thoughts, but I think these things bring us closer to human life, and I miss that. I miss feeling like part of a bigger whole, wherever it may be.
We may feel like we "lost" 2020 to Covid, but I hope you can look back at your time in quarantine and take some goodness out of it. I know we're counting the days until the end of this, and the end may be soon, so how are you going to take advantage of the time we have left?
Much love,
S
Loved this! Can’t wait to see more!