I am channeling my inner Heather McMahan (She is a hilarious comedian on Instagram if you don’t know who she is) and providing a wellness update. As you know, we are currently in the midst of a worldwide pandemic. COVID-19 has us all living our day to day lives much differently these days. Quarantine started back on March 16th for me and will continue until at least April 30th per the Governments guidelines. This has been a hard time for every single person not only in America but across the world. I wanted to sit down and write a diary post of sorts to share my thoughts and feelings to one day be able to look back on and also hopefully provide you comfort knowing you aren’t the only one struggling.

I started working from home on March 16th. It wasn’t but one week later that I was Furloughed. The thoughts and fears running through my head couldn’t be stopped. It felt so weird to be in a place where I had no control or ability to make an income. Since I was 16 I have worked and have known nothing else. But I took a breathe after a few days of fogginess. I can be thankful that I have savings, that my friends and family are healthy, that I was not laid off, that a stimulus check and unemployment is coming, that my employer has been so helpful navigating these times. It could be much worse, and so many Americans are facing these struggles right now, almost 22 million to be exact have filled for unemployment. You feel helpless but you have to remember this is out of your control and nothing to do with the reflection of your work ethic. I think of myself sitting at home reading and watching Netflix and think of those on the medical frontlines fighting this war. How small my issues are in comparison. And for those individuals I am eternally grateful. It takes a lot of courage and strength to be taking care of others with the fear you could contract the virus or bring it home to your family. Truly heroes.

It’s a weird feeling to be scared to go to the grocery store, a usual day to day activity we used to never fear. Gone are the days of being able to stroll through Target just for fun. I honestly have become so obsessed with cleaning the apartment, it is on the lines of decompressing or OCD. Anyone else with me?

So moving on from the negatives. I have found peace in watching communities come together. People saying hello to others when getting fresh air outside (social distancing of course). I watched in my parents neighborhood, their neighbor make masks for the community in her garage as her daughter played outside. A neighbor who made Easter Egg packages and passed them out to families since the neighborhood couldn’t have their annual Easter egg hunt. It is these small tokens that we forget in our busy day to day lives. We forget about each other and keeping up with family and friends. I haven’t FaceTimed and texted this much with friends and family all over the country in so long. My best friends from high school have created a standing zoom call every Sunday to chat and connect with each other. As awful as this virus is it has hopefully taught people to cherish the small things in life and NEVER take anything for granted.

You see people whose families cant meet their new little family edition, whose weddings have been delayed, peoples loved ones becoming sick, engagements, birthdays the list goes on having to take place without loved ones. Remember all those times you complained about having to wake up and drive to a friends shower early or all the times work was too stressful, well I would do anything to have those times back.

So thank you if you are still reading and connecting with me through this diary entry. I hope you are all safe, healthy and appreciating the things we took for granted in life. My hope is that this brings the country and the world together. Makes past major issues from politics, celebrity gossip, etc seem really small.