Natalie's Nook

Just three months ago I did a post expressing how much I was looking forward to the start of a new decade, a new year. I went into detail about my goals, my last semester as an Undergraduate student, the internship I was offered, etc.

It’s April and since the beginning of 2020, life for me and so many other people, has been spiraling downward gradually.

Starting with the potential uprise of World War III, the death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant (he will forever be missed) and now this— a global pandemic.

Countries around the world have been placed on a quarantine period due to a virus that became known back in December of 2019. That virus being “The Corona Virus” also known as “COVID-19”. At that time parts of the world were unaware of the virus, and I’m sure no one thought it would rule as a world wide pandemic. Given the fact that people don’t listen, they scare easily, and until the snowball starts to enlarge for issues like this to be taken seriously— people joke, not being emotionally aware of the crisis that’s currently taking place.

Mid February into early March is when the virus took its tour. From parts of East Asia (China, South Korea, Japan), to Europe, Australia, parts of the Middle East (Iran and Israel), to Africa, Northern Europe, making its last stops in Canada and the United States.

Currently, countries across the globe have been shut down and have advised everyone to stay indoors for what was a two-three week quarantine that is now 30 days. Schools are now conducting classes online and just about everyone is working from home.

This pandemic has definitely gotten in the way of a number of events some of us were looking forward to: graduations, proms, planned travels/vacations, the Cherry Blossom festival in Washington D.C., birthday celebrations, concerts and music festivals, major movie releases in theaters, and countless others.

Although we’ve had to make big adjustments and press pause on our life outside, during this crisis we have been given more time to practice healthy habits we’ve put off for a while. It’s also given us more time to practice skills we’ve put down in the past or was needing more time to focus on. This is a time to read those books you’ve been itching to, write the first draft of the novel that you’ve only written notes on, sketch those drawings to add to your portfolio collection, paint something awe inspiring. Try those TikTok hacks or DIYs, they’re very tempting. Make that music and write those lyrics, practice that choreography and maybe make up your own. And don’t forget to reach out to loved one— family and friends.

I’m sure most of us are tired of hearing and reading about it in the news, seeing it trend on social media (besides the memes, those are hilarious), and getting emails that mention it after the greeting or in the end statement. But it is important that we keep up with the data/information about what’s happening with the virus currently.

Remember to stay clean, keep six feet, stay home, & cover your mouth and nose when sneezing and coughing. Allergy season is amongst us as well.