How I’m Dealing With The Coronavirus While In Quarantine
There’s no doubt that this pandemic has everyone thinking and feeling a million different things at once.
Even though, it’s happening to everyone-so we have this one thing in common-our experience with it is completely different from one another depending on our circumstances. Some of us have it easier than others and are blessed in that way while others are really feeling the struggle including those who have been infected with the disease COVID-19 or lost someone to it, lost their job or are working but still outside of their homes putting them at risk, are in quarantine but alone or with people they don’t really get along with (domestic violence) and other struggles.
Personally, I’ve been feeling overwhelmed by all the different experiences going on but as much as I would like to control each one, I can’t. That’s something that a lot of people are having a hard time accepting; acknowledging you can’t control everything. So what can you control? It depends on your circumstance. What can you do right now to help manage your situation and possibly progress through the pandemic? It’s like what you hear all the time; you can’t take care of others without taking care of yourself. Right-taking care of ourselves is essential-not just to be able to take care of others, though, but just for our own health and sanity.
In general, many are struggling with boredom while in quarantine (unless you’re an introvert like me and this is not that big of a deal to you because you already social distance on a regular basis). But it’s not just being bored like when you have the option to go out and do something. If you’re bored and stuck in the house, what are you supposed to do to solve this boredom? Not to mention, this boredom can quickly turn into a depressed state and that’s when things get really complicated.
I mentioned I’m an introvert and on a regular basis, before Coronavirus, I usually like doing things on my own. I have grown to be content with going out on my own, staying in while everyone’s out, etc. But I am still struggling with feeling a little suffocated in the house and miss seeing faces I really like being around. I also just dread going to the grocery market now because that means paranoia, as if I don’t deal with that already. Don’t even get me started with the anxiety I get from feeling down for not being “productive” especially with all the time I have now. I realized I already had these struggles but they’ve been put more on blast in lockdown.
So how am I making my own experience in this pandemic work for me? I know I am not alone with these problems while being in quarantine. Here’s how I’ve been coping:
1. Continuing My Workout Routine
One of my favorite things to do in the world is to work out. So when I heard the gyms were closing, it took me a while to believe it was reality. I was thankful that I had a few workout pieces like resistance bands at my house already from back in the day when I first started working out. But I’ve come a long way since and I knew what I had wasn’t going to do it for me to be honest. Luckily, I was able to borrow gym equipment and even invest in some that I knew would be good for me in the long-run. I’ve been able to incorporate workouts I would be doing at my gym because I simply invested in something I genuinely care about. You’re going to make it work somehow if it’s really important to you. By continuing my workout routine, not only does it help me stay healthy, but it makes me have some normalcy while all of this is going on.
Maybe if you’re still able to do something you did before the pandemic, you should do it so you can also have that sense of normalcy to keep you sane.
2. Self-Education
This is something I’ve also been doing before the virus hit, but now that I have more time, I’ve been able to get a lot of things done in this realm. I finally finished my personal trainer course and got certified. It felt really good to get this out of the way because I’ve been working on it for the longest time and the fact that it was taking a while, I was getting discouraged which would set me back from accomplishing my other goals. Along with that, my interest in the health industry is always growing that I decided to take it to the next chapter and pursue a master’s degree in medical nutrition which leads me to why can’t I just give myself a break? But that’s another topic I can get into later. So I’ve been preparing my application for that and looking into all the career possibilities because I’ve always been about doing what you love. Of course, it’s necessary for me to make money on the side while pursuing my goals so I do have a hourly paid job which thankfully has me working from home at the moment. But settling has never been an option for me so I’ve been trying to make use of this time to get things going which brings me to the next section.
3. Writing On Medium
I just discovered Medium and as a journalism major with experience in the editorial field, it really interested me to get back to writing and possibly expand my brand in nutrition and fitness. This is exactly what I need during this quarantine; an outlet where I can express myself.
I’ve been reading and listening to podcasts from nutrition to fitness to lifestyle. But once you consume so much information, you just want to let it all out in your own way and it was time to do that. I enjoy writing but after working in the field as a writer, I discovered it might just be more of a hobby for me or maybe I’ll slowly discover what it is I want to write about and make a career out of it. I have been planning to go back to my blog and website so I think by writing on Medium, it’ll help me get my groove back.
4. Making TikTok Videos
Yes you read that right. TikTok has really made my quarantine. It started with me enjoying watching others make videos and look so happy and be silly. Then there were some “challenges” that I thought I could try out and the rest is history.
I’ve been making TikTok videos and they have brought so much joy to me. To be a part of a platform where people are just having fun, especially during this hard time, really makes my day while being stuck in quarantine. Not to mention, I prefer it way more than Instagram where you mostly just see negativity or the same thing over and over again and it can drive you crazy.
Although TikTok has been around for a while now, it looks like I’m not alone in looking to the social media platform for an uplift during the lockdown. The video-sharing app has accumulated more users since that it’s not as easy as it was before to go viral. I have to thank the people, though, in general who have been participating. Their videos are so lively and I just want to hang out with all of them. We all have that one thing in common while making a TikTok video and that’s to make others laugh. Too bad we’re social distancing but as soon as this is over, I want to collaborate on some of the challenges.
5. Reflecting On How Far I’ve Come
This is an interesting one which I’ll get more into detail on another post. But having all this time has given me the opportunity to look back and be grateful at how far I have come as a person.
My journey to healing officially started after a long-term relationship ended. During the relationship, I knew there were parts of me that really needed improvements but I wasn’t sure how to start. I thank that relationship for making me see all those parts and feeling the need to do something about them or else I would be doomed. Fast-forward to an unfortunate event-which I will include more details on another post-I had to really reflect on my healing journey and make a serious change. But if it wasn’t for starting already on that journey before, I don’t know how I would have handled the situation. At this point, I’m proud at how I handled it and it’s because of all the work I’ve done on myself.
By working on myself, I can confidently say the return on investment is going really well. Mostly everything is paying off. You are what you attract and I’ve been attracting great energy as I continue growing.
6. Finally Cooking Recipes I’ve Been Wanting To Cook
Cooking is one of those “goals” I want to have but it’s taking me a while to gain the habits to do it. We all have that one thing (or maybe more than one thing) we want to accomplish or start doing as a hobby but the hardest part is starting. That’s cooking for me. However, I like to look back and see all the recipes I actually have done and I’m pretty proud of myself. One of the reasons why we tend to stress out over not starting that new project is because we have a perfectionist approach to it and that’s the wrong way to do it. Nothing will come out perfect and progress isn’t linear. But when you do start and do little here and there, you’re still making progress and it’s sustainable progress, meaning, you’ll be able to carry this new project for a long time and not just quit after day one.
So with cooking, I’ve baked oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (although, it was chocolate covered almonds, not chips but it seemed about the same to me) and cooked some delicious chicken pesto and cold avocado pasta that I will be making again because it was that good. My next projects include churros and pizza from scratch.
So I’m excited to keep the ball rolling with cooking in quarantine. I enjoy the creative process of cooking and the peaceful vibe it gives me.
7. Relax and Be Okay With It
I’m sure this one’s nothing new to most people reading this but I’ve been taking breaks and trying to be okay with it. There’s this notion going around that while in lockdown, you have all this time to be as productive as possible. That sounds inspiring until it gives you anxiety when you’re feeling like you’re not living up to those standards. I’ve lived with that anxiety for most of my life; feeling as if I’m not being productive and giving myself a hard time for it. With this quarantine, I’m seeing a lot of people experience this now and in a way, it makes me feel good because I don’t feel so alone in this anymore.
I get it when people get annoyed or bothered or even depressed for not taking advantage of the time. We have so much time now, though, that you don’t have to be doing something every single minute. It’s not healthy. It’s okay to not do anything. Personally, I’ve been taking more breaks than usual and being okay with it and loving it. Your brain and body interact with each other so if you’re thinking all is well, you’ll be more relaxed and it will signal your body to be calmed as opposed to constantly torturing yourself, signaling the body to experience stress and high cortisol levels meaning you won’t feel so good. My body has appreciated it the extra relaxing time because I’ve been training my brain to know it’s okay if I’m not working.
Right now is especially not the time to stress over these things. The main concern is staying healthy physically and mentally.
These are the basic ways I’ve been coping with the Coronavirus while being in quarantine. Like I said before, I am an introvert so social distancing hasn’t made a huge impact on me but that doesn’t mean I have zero struggles. Plus, maybe learning from an introvert on how to deal with this isolated time is not such a bad idea. In fact, even outside of the pandemic, it’s a good idea to learn how to be on your own and not rely on others for happiness. I’m going to save that for another post but this is the gist of my rona experience.
