Photo by Dollar Gill on Unsplash
A quote I’ve seen on social media that I’m truly appreciative of is “When this ends—AND IT WILL—every game will sell out, every restaurant will have a 2-hour wait, every kid will be glad to be in school, everyone will love their job, the stock market will skyrocket, every other house will get TP’d, and we’ll all embrace and shake hands. That’s gonna be a pretty good day. Hang in there, World.”
Since the pandemic began, my job has shut down, my dormitory has shut down, I have had to flee Evanston to come to Louisiana (my home) in order to avoid being homeless. I have left behind my identity and returned to being the person I must be under my parents’ roof. And don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad life, but my friends aren’t here, my counselor isn’t here, the freedom of being an adult isn’t here. Because of this, my goal for this shutdown has simply been to remain sane. Here are some of the ways I’ve been able to do so.
I’ve continued to socialize — even more so than before the pandemic! I’ve always been a busy person but I was especially busy before the pandemic. I was applying for internships and fellowships and rushing my beloved sorority, on top of my schoolwork and two jobs, and contributing to this blog. These are things that are extremely important to me, but I had no time for my friends. Since all of this started, I’ve FaceTimed, sent memes, and worshiped religion with my friends. I’ve socialized more within these past few weeks than I have in the past year.
I’ve tried to make a flexible routine for myself. A strict schedule may be impossible at this moment – my counselor told me it’s probably wise to accept these are going to be unsure times. But I’ve tried to set a semi-regular schedule. Now that I have very little to do outside of my school work (since being confined to my home), I have told myself that I will continue to shower and do my face routine. I try to worship at least once a day. I will eat three full meals each and every day. I will do certain things to avoid slipping into depression. I will do these things in order to give my life some type of normalcy.
When all of this is over, I don’t want to have to learn how to live again. It’s important to remember that although we are confined to our homes, our lives aren’t over. When this ends, I will not only be grateful for all of the things that I have missed, but I will look back on this as a time of self-care and productivity, and strength.
