I'm not going to lie; there's no point in trying to hide the truth these days. It doesn't get us anywhere.
After nearly two months in quarantine, I'm still angry. It's okay for everyone to be upset; we have a right to be. The world has turned upside down; our lives have turned upside down. Students being denied graduation, families being denied seeing each other, and so much more. A global pandemic has interrupted our entire way of life. We have the right to be angry...
The good news is, nobody is acting on that anger. Instead of drawing attention to how upset we are as a nation, we're coming together to help one another, and celebrate those who are putting their lives on the line for us. Instead of complaining about not being able to celebrate birthdays or anniversaries, we're finding ways to show love for one another by holding up signs and having socially distant car parades. Just last week, my family came together to do a parade for my grandmother's 80th birthday. (You can watch the video about it on my Instagram).
I know I'm not alone when I say I'm upset to be home from college. Some of us weren't lucky enough to stay on campus or have a place of our own. I was supposed to be in Europe and traveling right after finals and gone for most of the summer. Instead, I was grounded and had no other option than to be home for a couple of months. At first, I was outraged. I didn't want to be back; I wanted to live my independent life, be with my friends, travel, explore, write, etc. I'm still mad too, but I'm surviving.
Online school isn't working for me, and that's the case for the majority of students. It's hard to learn and focus, and I won't even get started about the financial aspect. We do the best we can, and sometimes we feel as though it's not good enough. But we still try to do our best and adapt.
I think that's one of the most beautiful things about humans. We adapt. We could lash out at our parents or the world for something nobody can control, but we don't. Instead, we find another way to get along. We find ourselves with time to try things we've always wanted to try, learning how to take care of ourselves, learning to cook and bake, and finally having time to catch up on sleep and our movie watch lists.
Yes, we complain and are angry, but we're using that anger to help make a change and share the love. And if you don't, believe me, I recommend watching John Krasinski's Some Good News.
It's hard to stay positive in a crisis, but we're surviving, adapting, and caring for one another anyways. Continue to take care of yourself and do your part in protecting those around you. Try a new hobby or try some DIY self-care ideas on Pinterest, whatever you want to do. Take time to enjoy the time we have before life goes back to its chaotic normality and remember to love yourself and one another because it's one of the greatest gifts God gave us.
