COVID-19: Keeping the Calm in Chaos

By Aqsa Rehman

I’m sure everyone by now knows of the COVID-19 outbreak that has taken the world by storm and changed the lives of millions worldwide. We are now thrown into a completely new lifestyle, one where we must self-isolate inside our homes with no knowledge of when we can return back to our previous lives.

It is a challenging time for many including seniors and those who live alone. But despite all this chaos, being able to stay home is a blessing in disguise. It gives us a chance to self-reflect, an opportunity to take a break from our fast-paced lifestyles and do things we’ve always wanted to, but never had the time to do it.

During this time make sure you take care of yourself and check up on your friends and loved ones who may be suffering in these scary times. We are fortunate enough to live in a technological era where talking to our friends isn’t difficult to do. Although Facetime isn’t the same as talking to friends face to face, it still allows us to stay connected in times where we must stay apart. I have been Facetiming friends and texting them frequently to stay connected. It makes a difference when you reach out to others, or they reach out to you. Staying in touch with loved ones is important.

Although this is a perfect opportunity to be productive, don’t feel pressured to do too many things. Take this time to just live in the moment and take things day by day. Don’t put unnecessary stress onto yourself, we’re already living in quite stressful times so it's important to take time to destress and do things you enjoy.

One thing I’ve been doing is turning to creativity to keep me busy and it was something I’ve missed doing and although this virus is awful I’m glad to have gotten an opportunity to find time to be creative again. For people who aren’t creative there are still many things to do like cook or organize your room. But make sure you’re doing something because you want to and not because you’re pressured to do it.

The most important thing during these times is doing things that calm you and give you comfort. If comfort for you is sitting in your bed and watching Netflix then do that! I hope everyone remembers to take care of themselves in these rough times because self-care is very important.

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As a student I’m unsure of how this school year will play out with this pandemic. However, students should stay on top of work and reach out to classmates who may be going through a difficult time. My heart goes out to seniors who, in all likelihood will not be able to have their prom or graduation. Despite this I hope everyone is remaining at home and following the advice of local health officials. We all miss our friends but it’s important to stay at home and to not risk the wellbeing of others by continuing to hang out with your friends.

Social distancing is crucial and although staying at home in isolation can be challenging we must think of those who are at high risk to this virus. Going out can increase the spread of COVID-19 and our goal is to at least slow the spread. Quicker we all follow regulations from health officials, the quicker we will all be out of quarantine and back to our daily lives. Staying at home is also important to avoid exhausting hospitals with an influx of cases, we need to think of all these things before we step outside to hang out with our friends or visit our families.

To everyone who is still working in these times I appreciate you all and we really should appreciate them too. We all will get through this seemingly never ending quarantine and pandemic, we just need to cooperate, stay at home and make sacrifices.

BELOW:

A list of quarantine activities :

• Paint something!! This could include your clothes as well..
  
• Organize your room and declutter.
  
• Play video games with your friends online.
  
• Group facetime call!
  
• Have a dance party in your room.
  
• Listen to new music!
  
• Binge a show!
  
• Take a nap,
  
• Play board games with your family
  
• Go for a walk!
  
• Work out (if you’re motivated enough to)
  
• Bake something or cook dinner
  

These are just a few activities to keep you busy while at home!