By: myyteenlifee g
These past few months have been a whirlwind. I've been stuck at home for months. Even though our safer-at-home orders have been lifted (Wisconsin), my parents have been strict with staying at home (most of the time) and maintaining distance whenever we do need to go out. As an only child, I've had a lot of free time to myself. I've learned so many critical things that I did not fully grasp or understand before. Although Coronavirus has brought a dramatic change to our lives, I feel that I have it has been an amazing learning experience for all of us.
Appreciation
I will be honest, I have taken things for granted throughout most of my life. When quarantine first started, I saw images and videos on the news that showed people lining up for food. I saw statistics showing the unemployment rates all across America. I was snapped out of the perfect lifestyle I was living before and it got me to realize that so many people were not as fortunate as I was. While I was able to eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, others had to save up penny by penny for a dinner meal. While I was able to access a doctor, others were unable to pay their medical bills and were unable to get the treatment that they needed. This privilege is an honor that not a lot of people are able to have. I've learned to take this advantage to help others, starting small. My parents still had to work every day, so I took this opportunity to help them around the house more often and make their lives easier. At the store, I would make sure to buy foods and household supplies that did not have a WIC label on them for other citizens. Although I have not completely understood this concept, I know that I will take my privilege to do good in the world. I want to grow up to be selfless.
Reconnections
The word 'reconnections' could connect with a lot of meanings (see what I did there). Firstly, it could mean reconnecting with friends and family. I have many friends that I have talked to in a long time - one of which was my best friend in middle school, but moved to India. During quarantine, the exess amount of free time that I have have been used towards moments like these. Chatting with long-lost friends for hours over FaceTime brings warmth into my heart. They allow for not only reconnections, but allow for someone to share my thoughts and feelings to. I am a naturally diffident person, but I have learned to step out of my comfort zone and be the first person in these virtual reunifications.
'Reconnections' could also mean reconnecting with yourself. If you are a high school student, like me, handling school, an instrument, a sport, volunteering, and/or a job can be a struggle. Sometimes I am so caught up in the present that I forget to spend time relaxing. I find it depressing that in the modern world that we live in, time goes by so fast that we rarely have time for ourselves. Now that we do have the time, however, I strongly recommend you to try it. Spend an entire day to yourself. Put away any distractions, including your laptop and your phone. Put on a face mask and light a candle. Practice some calligraphy. Jam out to the songs on the radio. Make sure to clear your head and although this sounds cheesy, remember who you really are. Reconnect with your motives and goals and analyze how you are doing in life. Jot down any changes you want to make. I assure you that it will benefit you greatly.
Technology
For some reason, I have never been one with a problem with technology. One week, I got my phone screen time down to 20 minutes per day. I watched television about once every two or three months. I had about two games on my phone that I didn't even play. During quarantine, however, these habits have changed drastically. The number of FaceTimes that I have and texts that I send increase my screen time by a lot. I got Netflix, so the amount of television that I watch has changed to almost every day. I downloaded more games on my phone to pass the time. Even reading on my Chromebook and writing this blog has been with technology. All in all, my life is now revolving around technology - my phone, my iPad, and my computer. It is hard to get away from it, especially because it was addicting before quarantine. Lately, I have tried to control the amount of time that I spend on it. I wrote down several goals for myself, such as:
Watch one movie per week (maximum)
Lower daily phone screen time done to 1.5 hours
No games Monday-Friday
10 minutes on Snapchat every day
(etc.)
Even though these goals may be a little hard for me, I am working towards them. I know that I can not maintain these terrible habits when life returns to the norm, so it is best for me to start working on them now. I am spending time rereading the actual books that I have, sorting through my school supplies, playing board games with my family, going on long bike rides through my neighborhood, and much more. This has allowed me to live my life a little and not be consumed by the the virtual world.
Trying New Things
I want to make my last point my favorite - trying new things! Let me just say: it's never too late to try something new. Here are a few of the things that I've tried (and learned something while doing!):
1. Starting this blog!
I wanted to make this a community blog where all teens/young adults can post their thoughts, advice, suggestions, etc. Because this is fairly new, I want to build this community with my own posts but I hope that this can grow into a positive environment for all.
2. Making whipped coffee
I made some this morning, actually, even though I am a bit late on the trend. I did not like it that much, but it was still pretty good.
3. Bake
I have never been much of a chef or baker, but with the help of my mom, I made some desserts and am playing to bake a cake in honor of father's day tomorrow.
4. Trying to become ambidextrous
I'm right-handed, but I think it would be really cool if I was able to write neatly with both hands. I've practiced writing with my left hand every day, with a few pangrams.
Here are some other ideas:
5. Write a short story
6. Start skateboarding
7. Sleep under the stars
8. Start coding on an online platform, such as https://codecademy.com
For more ideas, check out our other blog posts!
Thank you so much for reading through this - I know it may have been awkward or repetitive at some places, but these are points that I actually learned through this Coronavirus experience.
email: myyteenlifee@gmail.com
instagram: @myyteenlifee
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Don't forget to read our last blog post: a short list of productive things to do this summer!!
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