Talking About the Elephant In the Room…COVID-19

Coronavirus, Covid-19, pandemic… all of these words are what surrounds us these days. Whether it’s via social media, local news outlets, or even in everyday conversations, it seems like we can never escape these words. The intention of this blog is to not talk about the actual virus or the spread of it, as I am not a medical expert and don’t wish to speak like one. I intend to do quite the opposite actually, I want to talk about the more positive/constructive things that have come out of this time. Our “coronacation” will go inevitably down in history books; so let’s try to focus internally on how we can better ourselves throughout this time.

On Monday, I will begin my 8th week of working from home for my job. I was grateful that my job was one of the first companies to enact a stay-at-home order throughout the country which means I have been working remotely (from my couch) for the past 7 weeks. Yes, it has been nice to not go into the office, but I’ve also found myself becoming more lethargic as the weeks go on. There are several activities that I would like to share throughout this blog post to uplift others as well. I have been brainstorming some of these activities to keep me busy, be productive around the house, and uplift my self as much as possible.

1. Keep a schedule- I know, this doesn’t sound very fun. Especially when [some] of us have been given the opportunity to work from home. Try to keep your schedule as routine as possible. Get up (yes out of your bed), get yourself ready for the day, and go to your designated workspace to begin the day. I also would recommend going to bed at a relatively decent time to keep your body in rhythm as well. I have fallen victim to scrolling aimlessly on all social media platforms late into the night which I am going to try to do less of this upcoming week. In my opinion, it is so important to keep your body in the habit of doing things, like it did, prior to the quarantine. If you regularly exercised, keep it up [even if you didn’t, this is the perfect time to start!]. If you like to read before bed, keep doing it! If you like to treat yourselves on the weekend with a special ice cream for getting through the work week, don’t let anyone stop you! Keeping a corona schedule is just as important, IF NOT MORE important, than before.

2. Clean your living space- For hygienic purposes as well as your sanity, try to keep your living space, whether it be a house, apartment, townhouse, basement, room, or a dorm, clean and disinfected as much as possible! Not only will it keep germs from being around you as long but for some people it can be therapeutic to clean their space. I like to deep clean my room/bathroom every 3 weeks normally, but now that we are in our current situation, I frequently wipe down surfaces and floors. It really gives me peace of mind that I’m trying to take care of my little area as much as possible.

So what have I actually been doing to pass time?

DELETING PICS OFF MY PHONE- This is probably one of the best things I could be doing right now. I’m a little embarrassed to say that I started with just over 22,000 pictures in my camera roll. Now that I’ve been working on deleting some pictures over the past couple days, I have gotten that total number down to 18,000. Now you may be thinking, okay but why do you have THAT many pictures?? The short answer is that I like to keep memories on my phone so I always have them to look at. The bit of a longer explanation is that I got my first iPhone when I was in 10th grade in 2012. This means that I have transferred my photos from phone to phone for the past 8 years!! Additionally, I was blessed to have been able to travel to many different countries throughout my college experience so I wanted to document all of the places I went to which has most definitely contributed to this large number. I couldn’t recommend to go through your camera roll and just weed out whatever you don’t need anymore enough!! Let me know how many pictures you have in your camera roll, hopefully I’m not the only one with an absurd number too. I intend to keep going through and decluttering the camera roll but it will take a few more days for sure.

DAILY EXERCISE- I’m not gonna get on here and start preaching about how you should be exercising everyday and constantly burning calories and whatnot. With everything going on right now, there are so many priorities that may come before this one however, if you value exercise, make it a priority! I work from home now, which has given me motivation to get up early in the day and do my workout before I even start to work because it helps give me energy to carry on throughout the day. If morning workouts aren’t your cup of tea, then I have also been switching some days to working out in the afternoon as a mood booster after a long day of work. This also gives my body a break from sitting down all day. Working on my physical health has been so important to me for the past several months. I’ll admit I gained quiet a few pounds after graduation (probably the heaviest I’ve ever been) and towards the end of 2019, I truly just didn’t like the way I looked and how I felt. I would be so lethargic throughout the day; I knew I needed to make a change. At the beginning of the year (yes, I had a cliché New Year’s resolution, don’t hate), I decided to promise MYSELF that I would take better care of my body by watching what I put into it and how I use it throughout the day, which means more exercises throughout the week. I have been determined to not let quarantine stop my rhythm either. If it feels good or if you just simply need a break from it all, get up and get moving!! Do what makes you feel good- running, dancing, walking, yoga, HIIT circuits… the possibilities are endless.

CONNECTING THROUGH MAIL- I have been frantically writing letters to my close friends over the past few weeks to make sure they knew I didn’t forget about them!! HAHA just kidding. I mainly write letters to my friends because I try to think of how it feels to receive mail (especially when it’s not bills and spam). There is just nothing better than receiving an old-fashion card in the mail (SHOUTOUT to you Emily for your lovely one that I received). I highly recommend during this time at home to connect more with your friends through mail. Sure you could send a text, but to write down your feelings on a piece of paper, is so much more personal! I’m sure your friends would love this too.

SEWING/REPAIRING CLOTHES- I have a pile of clothing items right outside of my bedroom that have been sitting there FOREVER! Literally months. I have been brainstorming on how to best tackle the pile but I’m working on sewing holes back together first, repositioning buttons, and then seeing if I can hem a few items too. This is the perfect time to post up in front of the TV with your sewing box and get to work. Once this quarantine is over and we can all go back outside, we are going to need our clothes looking top-notch! Also, I don’t know everything there is to know about sewing either so I’ve been watching lots of YouTube videos to help!

PERFECTING SKINCARE/MAKEUP- This one brings me so much JOY! I have been testing out different skincare products while I’ve been home so I can see what works best for my skin and ensure I’m using the best products I can. There has been some trial and error in this process but at least I’ve been home so I can hide a little bit. Once I get a good routine going, I will share more! Going hand in hand with trying different products, I’ve also been creating new makeup looks to wear out once I can go out again. These need a lot of attention together because in order to have makeup products work the way they are supposed to, your skin needs to be taken care of. A clean canvas can make your makeup shine radiantly like it never has before. Hoping to have a glow look by the time I can hang out with my friends again and feeling more confident in my own skin.

These are only a few of the things I have been doing while I’ve been home full-time but I wanted to give special attention to these breakdowns because I thought they would be most beneficial for others to think about as well. Let’s face it, the situation we have all been put in is hard to think about. We’ve never experienced anything like this before. Making the best of it is the most important thing we can do right now as well as HOPE for the best. Every night, I have “taken inventory” of all of my blessings that I have and speak my prayers into existence. HOPE and GRATEFULNESS can truly uplift the world these days~ let’s continue to try to spread peace together.

Please reach out to me if you are struggling with our “coronacation”. I am always hear to offer an ear to listen. We WILL get through this.

~~Sara

#blogger #blog #ontheblog #ontheblogtoday #bloggergetssocial #bloggerlife #newblogpost #bloggingtips #lifestyle #liveyourlife #loveyourlife #coronavirus #hope #grateful #clean #exercise #makeup #skincare