One of the ways that my reality has changed due to the Covid-19 pandemic is in my day to day life in regards to scheduling tasks. My job is in the food service industry and as a result, was one of the first places to be closed down due to Corona. Between that and the fact that all classes have been converted to an online format I have found myself struggling to maintain any form of schedule from day to day, which means that I have difficulty retaining any feeling of normalcy during these chaotic times. Not needing to be anywhere at any time, and even being encouraged to stay at home has meant that I often find myself aimlessly whiling away the hours. I'm also finding it much more difficult to track and keep on top of my responsibilities and assignments. For example, the other day I had an a quiz due in one of my other classes, but I wasn't tracking it until it was nearly due, and I almost didn't have enough time to complete it. It's important to do your part to help slow the spread of Covid-19, but it's also important to do what you can to reduce the negative impact that self-isolating has on your psyche. To that end, I've started trying to be up at my usual time, as well as immediately assigning myself a task to try and complete as soon as I wake up, in order to maintain a sense of order.
My question to the class is: What steps are you taking in order to maintain your emotional well-being and feeling of normalcy in the face of the current state of the world?
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| I found myself inspired by Max's book recommendation. This movie is also not a good idea to watch if you're freaking out, but I found the insight into the way the CDC operates in times of crisis, and its themes of panic being almost worse than the pandemic itself fascinating. |
"Perhaps most important, is a mode of thinking and being, an attempt 'to test, to make a run at something without knowing whether you are going to succeed'" (183).
This quote is something that I think is incredibly important to us students, both as young writers, and as young people going out in the world. The idea that, regardless of if you accomplish something, the most important part is that you tried. I personally have had projects that I have given up on before even attempting because I was sure it would't turn out how I wanted.
I find this idea to be a lot like this class in general: many of the things we have written about in this class are not things that I would have normally attempted, both because it's outside of my usual comfort zone, and because I wouldn't think that they would turn out any good. However being 'forced' to write them for this class has meant that I have had to write things that I'm not sure will turn out the way that I wanted. Some of the pieces I haven't liked, but some are works that I'm fairly proud of, and that have pushed me to expand my horizons.
Alex, the social isolation is profound for some people and I have an article from a man in China who underwent two months of it that we are going to read to learn from it. I think being able to write about and share these new experiences is vital.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting and being willing to try many new forms and ideas in writing. Very encouraging to see.