My Coronavirus Silver Linings

Hello again! Long time no see. I hate that I haven’t been able to post for the last 3 usual posting days (yikes, it’s been a long time since I was that absent from the blog), but with finals and having to suddenly move out of my dorm, I just didn’t get around to it. That doesn’t mean I don’t have tons of blog post ideas for the upcoming weeks, though! As I mentioned on Instagram the other day, it seems like the majority of people prefer to maintain a sense of normalcy during this trying time and continue to rely on their usual blogs/social media/pastimes to temporarily distract themselves from the news. With that said, I have decided to continue blogging like regular, but with an occasional—and temporary—coronavirus twist (more posts centered on being at home, etc.).

For today’s post, I wanted to acknowledge that yes, the uncertainty of the times in which we live is very unsettling. Several college students, including myself, are extremely disappointed that the remainder of the school year will be taught online, meaning we are separated from our friends and have to be taught in a way that may hinder our capacity to learn. While the coronavirus has presented several disappointments and hardships, there is still a lot for which to be grateful—grateful that I have a home and family to which I am excited to return. Grateful that I am healthy. Grateful that my school has the ability to continue lessons in an online format. Grateful that I have internet connection to enable my continued learning (and Netflix binging, of course). There’s no denying that I spent a lot of time last week moping about the sucky-ness of this situation. However, I have since accepted that this is just the way things are for now, and we will get through it. As such, I wanted to share all of the personal silver linings I have discovered that have resulted from my being sent home from school for the rest of the academic year. My list is accompanied by a series of unglamorous photos taken over the past week and a half, amidst all this coronavirus craziness and the process of moving out of the dorms.

Now that I have written my obligatory serious thoughts on the current pandemic, I am looking forward to instead trying to focus on the positives (and my otherwise insignificant obsession with clothes, fashion, and the like—distractions, ya know?). So without further ado, here are ­­­15 things, big and small, that make me excited to be home!

• Eating my parents’ home-cooked food. I won’t be missing cafeteria dining, that’s for sure!
• In a similar vein, I’m very excited about cheese. Real cheese. Get into my tummy NOW.
• Being able to shower without shoes on. #freethetoes
• Celebrating Easter with my family, even if that means staying inside. I still plan on getting dolled up, wbu?

• Playing tennis with my dad. Luckily, this sport already incorporates social distancing. In fact, I’m just excited about spending more time with my family in general.
• Taking baths. I love a good bubble soak every now and again (after I get clean in the shower first, of course), but even if my dorm room had a bathtub, I would never trust it… I would be too haunted by college bathers of years past.
• Not having to handwash dishes. Whoot whoot for a dish washing machine (and the peace of mind that the dishes are actually clean).
• Uninhibited #2s. If you know, you know.

• Hanging with high school friends and my old crowd. It’s not very often that we’re all in the same place anymore! And if we can’t see each other right now, we’ll certainly be able to hang out in the future.
• Being able to sleep in. I thought that I lost the ability to sleep late when I went to college, but as I learned yesterday when my alarm went off at 10 am and I was still snoozing, it’s just the crappy blinds and all the light in my dorm room at school that keeps me from my slumber. Thank goodness for the thicker shades I have here at home.

• Having my full wardrobe from which to choose. Like a lot of college students, I don’t have space to bring my entire closet to school, but now I get to enjoy the hidden gems of my wardrobe that I had forgotten about! One of the first things I did when I got home Tuesday night was enter my closet and remind myself of the pieces I left behind. I squealed with joy.
• I don’t have pets, but if I did, I would be excited to finally reunite with my doggos/kitties/rabbits (?). Instead, I am excited to smother myself with stuffed animals while lounging in bed.

• Not having to scrounge up a bunch of quarters every time I have to do laundry. Or suffer from the ratchet smell of the school laundry machines. (Okay, so maybe I’m one of very few people left who still uses quarters instead of an app… but still, it’s nice not to personally cough up some money every time you want clean clothes.)
• Seeing the hummingbirds! I always love filling a feeder in the spring and watching as the majestic little creatures buzz by. This is something I miss while at school, but since I’ll be home this spring, I’ll get to watch as all the hummingbirds return and fight with one another.
• Most of all, if I have to be stuck inside, I’m excited to be home, where my options to pass time are endless. I’m really looking forward to scrapbooking, painting, coloring in my favorite mandala coloring book, reading some new books, playing chess, pestering my family until they finally play board games with me, etc. If I were stuck at school, my only options would basically be binging Netflix and working on long-term blogging goals (don’t get me wrong, I still plan on doing both of these things, but it’s nice to have a wider variety of options).

How are you holding up in this craziness? I’m always here if you need someone to talk to or just want to vent. If you read this post, please leave a comment of one silver lining that you’ve discovered amidst this crisis, or something for which you are grateful. Let’s work on spreading positivity and hope, not panic!

I hope this lil’ blog post helped shift your mindset, if only momentarily. Thinking of you all, and do your best to make the most of today! Talk soon!

Miles of smiles,

Grace