What's Next?

With a global pandemic taking place, I've experienced so many different feelings and emotions. As a senior in college, I was getting ready to graduate. I was going to experience all these great moments with my friends and have memories that would last a lifetime. My end to college, just like many others, ended abruptly and without much closure. Family dynamics have changed for people who have a member in their family who has tested positive for Coronavirus as now they have to tackle on that challenge. People are now required to stay at home and quarantine themselves to stop the spreading of the virus. Social distancing has become the new norm. So many things have changed in just a matter of months, and they are continuing to change with every week. People deal with change differently. Some people adapt quickly to change while others, like me, take a while to adjust to certain changes. For a while, I haven't felt like myself. I've been kind of numb and in disbelief to everything that has been happening around me. It's taken me a minute, but I've been able to find positive aspects to this whole situation. I'm going to share with you some of the advice I've gotten over these few weeks:
  • Find a Hobby: Life is always moving so fast. We are always busy or preoccupied with something everyday. Now that we are advised to stay at home and quarantine, it has given us the opportunity to pick up a hobby or do something that we love but stopped doing before because of our busy schedules. For example, I love to dance as in I used to love watching dance tutorials and learning choreography from YouTube (shoutout to Aliya Janell). Now I have the time to go back and do that! I've also downloaded TikTok which I think is a great way to spend your time whether its learning new dances or making funny videos that we can all relate to. If you love reading, do that! If you love cooking, do that! Whatever your hobby is, make the time to do it!
  •  Self-Care/Self-Reflection: Again, with our busy schedules, we always forget to take care of ourselves. Now with all this time that we have, we can do just that: focus on ourselves. During this time, it's important to get rest, but don't spend your whole day just sleeping away. Do the hobby that we talked about earlier; Treat yourself to a face mask/facial scrub; watch shows and movies (highly recommend On my Block and Love is Blind if ya'll have not seen those shows already); listen to music; stay active through workouts at home; get spiritually right if that is something that you have been longing to do. Also use this time to reflect. Reflect on the goals you made for yourself at the beginning of the year. There is still so much time in the year left! 
  • Spend time with family and friends (virtually): This is the perfect opportunity to take the time to reconnect with family and friends. Although we cannot physically be with them (unless you are currently quarantined with them), this is the best time to pick up the phone and talk to them! Use FaceTime, Google Duo, and other video calling apps to communicate with them. Catch up with one another. Check up on each other. We sometimes forget to do all this because we are busy with other things going on around us, but now is the time to connect with each other without other distractions. 
The common theme here is that we all have busy lives. Although quarantine can seem boring, it really depends on how we use that time. Most importantly, WHEN this pandemic is over, we can make time in our schedule to continue our hobby; we can better know how to practice self-care; and we can have better relations with some of our family and friends. COVID-19 has brought so much change and challenges, but just like the proverb says, "This, too, shall pass." Rather than dwell in negative thoughts, it's so important to remain positive and use this time as an opportunity for self-growth! I'm still going to look forward to the rest of 2020! In the meantime, stay safe and stay healthy. *virtual hugs*






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2020: New Decade

It's a new year which means it's time to experience more changes and growth. "New Year, New Me" has been the common cliche saying surrounding the holiday as people start planning their goals and resolutions, but "New Year, A Better Me" has started to become the new mindset for a lot of people in recent years, and I agree with the latter.  By saying "new year, a better me", we focus on the idea that we just want to keep bettering ourselves in the new year. Growth does not happen immediately overnight. If your goal is to learn a second language, you are not going to immediately learn that new language by the next day. It takes focus, time, and sacrifice to be able to achieve your goals.  To lead up to the new year, I watched various vlogs to find inspiration for how I wanted to improve myself. I came across Adrienne Bailon's recent vlog (Check it out:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m_OtYrebs4 ) post about her weight loss and the tips
Read more

Back to School 101

With the new year also comes a new semester for students. Winter break varies for us from 3 to 4 weeks, and then us college students in particular are thrown back into trying to balance all that adulthood has to offer (e.g. classes, a job, a social life, a relationship, etc.). Adulthood is definitely overwhelming to say the least, BUT it is also exciting as we continue to figure out who we are and what we want to do. I am currently in my last semester of college, and it doesn't seem real. I still can't comprehend the fact that I won't be on campus in the fall, but instead, I will be sitting at my own desk at my full-time job. Crazy!! Even now, it still hasn't hit me that I have friends that have already started their careers or who are just about to enter that stage of their life. I think the biggest thing that I've learned about being a college student is to honestly enjoy every moment because it goes by so quickly and adulthood really comes at you fast. Not sayi
Read more