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  2020-04-24

  Utilizing the Pandemic

  I have a feeling that my journey through the Plague Years has been rather different than most other people. Even with the Pandemic raging, I would genuinely consider the past two years some of the best of my life. Though there were certain adjustments that had to be made surrounding the uncertainty of the disease early on, my life was largely unaffected. I was living at home and taking online classes at a community college so those continued after only a slight break. I worked part-time at a pet food store and because pet food was considered “essential” for people, I was allowed to continue working uninterrupted. My dad started working from home and my siblings high school went to a part-time schedule. During the day we started a plethora of new tv shows and almost every night we were able to have dinner as a family and play board games. The best part, after some debate, larger universities began moving to online classes and closing campuses. This meant that my friends who were away at school would be coming home. Once we knew the signs, symptoms, and the relatively small danger presented to younger people we were able to hang out and have socially distanced fun. As an introvert, friends, family, school, and work were all I really needed to be happy, and the loss of large-scale social functions was of no importance to me. In fact, I was able to utilize the lack of interaction during the Pandemic as a cover for experimentation. On April 24, 2020, after hearing my dad ask me to get a haircut for the third time, I decided to take matters into my own hands and gave myself a buzzcut. There were four thoughts ringing in my mind as the razor vibrated in my hand. 1. I need a haircut 2. No place was open that was close 3. I have had the same hairstyle since high school. 4. And most importantly, not many people would have to see it. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was and how it looked. Since that time, I have been much more adventurous with my hair styling and even with what I wear. The Pandemic helped me realize that life is too short to not try something new just for the sake of it. And though I did get clowned by my friends on occasion, that didn’t stop me from doing it again 11 months later… The pictures included are the sink full of my hair and hanging out with friends rocking the buzzcut. Overall, I know how lucky I was to remain relatively unscathed throughout the Pandemic. My paychecks never stopped, my classes resumed shortly, and my relationships with friends and family blossomed. The only real loss experienced was my hair, and for that, I am more than grateful.
• 2020-11-01

  Covid-19 in One Word IV: Enlightening

  This word comes from a woman who lost her job and found a new one. Enlightening: give greater knowledge and understanding about a subject or situation Now, this may initially seem backwards, but maybe it is on track. While many bad things came out of having Covid-19 around, not all things were bad. Having the whole world stop forced people to stop as well. Things slowed down, if only for a small moment of time. But in that slowing, when the outside world seemed to go quiet, the inside world had time to be heard. This pause, for some, became a time of self-reflection, a time of learning more about the one you see in the mirror, or learning more about a range of other things. In any sense, it became a time where knowledge was expanded. We better understand what matters to us and what things are worth our time. We forgot about pleasantries and moved into making connections beyond a smile, because those can’t be seen. While some may argue that putting distance created emotional differences, others have found that in this time of being apart, some things came together with more understanding of yourself and the world around you. So while the times of this virus have been undeniably dark, there may have been some light as well.