one year in quarantine | a photo journal series (+10 things I’ve learned)
A year ago, this week, I was living in my last week of normalcy. Taking the hour-long commute in packed trains, sitting in classrooms six inches apart, and dining indoors eating my favorite comfort foods. Since then, the world has changed and so have I.
Taken one year ago | March 11th 2020 | Last picture in my photo album before New York City went on lockdown
Here is a summary of the ten things I learned in the daily life of quarantine.
01 | one
I am a night owl that wants to be an early bird.
The many years of pulling all-nighters in high school and college conditioned me to become a night owl. I would wake up at 11 am after 10 hours of sleep and get mad at how half the day was already gone. Now I (try) my best to wake up at 6 am. The success rate isn’t that high, but I’m getting there.
02 | two
I baked banana bread four times. The first time: It was great. Each time after that — not so much.
I have an incredible sweet tooth. My dentist can testify to that. When I heard about the banana bread trend, you already know I hopped on that train. The two remaining bananas that I can never finish before it rotten? CHECK. Flour? CHECK. A shit ton of expired chocolate chips? CHECK CHECK AND CHECK. I’m also the type to modify the recipe to include half as much butter and oil that is required. Do we really need two whole sticks of butter and a heart-attack-inducing cup of oil? I’ll pass.
03 | three
I created a morning routine.
I read somewhere that making your bed in the morning gives you your first hit of dopamine. I called bullshit. But at the time, I was so down in the quarantine dumps that I became Desperate Debra. I used to believe that making your bed was pointless. I would get right back into bed in a few hours, so why bother? No, no, that was the old me. Now, I have a morning routine where I countdown from 5, get the fuck up, make my bed like they do at hotels, do my 10 minutes yoga stretch, and 20 other things that usually take me a whole hour.
04 | four
I love my dog (even more now.)
Pre-global pandemic, I always wondered what my dog, Montao did at home when no one is home. Does he wait at the window and door waiting for his humans to come home? (Yes) Does he rip up tissues and wreck the house? (Yes)
Now that I’ve been home every day, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, I can conclude that he does nothing.
Literally, nothing.
He sleeps, he eats, he sleeps some more. Occasionally, he was bark hello at the Amazon prime delivery dude or the Fedex gal, but that’s about it. Whenever I am taking my breaks, I would go over, rub his belly, and reassure him that we will go on a walk in 4 hours and 37 minutes.
05 | five
I don’t hate working from home (anymore.)
This whole #WFH life was not for me. I am more of a #WFACSIEF6DCOSC (Work from a coffee shop in exchange for 6 dollars cup of shitty coffee) type of girl. I thrive off of the productive energy and white noise of coffee shops. There is nothing more invigorating than sitting at a 12’’x12’’ coffee table and grind it out. But this quarantine really called bullshit on my spending (and studying) habits. Instead of $6 for half a cup of ice, I make my own cup of matcha that I buy by the can from Amazon. (Non-affiliate link because I’m not that type of influencer) Then, I swish it around with a teaspoon of sugar, add some hot water and some oat milk (because I’m painfully lack toes and taller rent.) Lastly, I hit play on the coffeehouse vibes Spotify playlist and I get working.
06 | six
Focusing on what I can control.
There was so much uncertainty throughout this pandemic. When will we return to normalcy? Will people listen to public health officials and mask up? Will people stop hoarding toilet paper? Can I get COVID from touching the surface of my Amazon boxes and mail? What if I leave it out “to air” for three days?
Uncertainty + Anxiety —> Fear
I had to slowly learn that there are just some things around me that I cannot control. What I can control is how I react to them. I focused my energy on the things that I can control, like morning routine and practicing gratitude. There was no point in dwelling on things that were outside my locus of control, because this too will pass. (Here is a great video explaining this concept.)
07 | seven
I started reading (again.)
This may be a hard pill to swallow but I don’t read often. It’s a bit mind-boggling even to myself.
“But you are writing a book, how can you not read?”
With all the competing priorities in college and just in life, I didn’t have time make time to read. I was always a huge fan of fiction books especially YA novels in middle and high school. But as I got older, books just started collecting dust on my bookshelf. At most I would read one book (that is not a textbook) per year. During this past year, I was able to indulge myself in the world of books again. Here are some of my favorites — some of which even inspired me to write mine.
Becoming by Michelle Obama’s (Memoir)
Dear Girls by Ali Wong (Autobiography)
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (Autobiography)
The Last Parrish by Liz Constantine (Thriller, Psychological Fiction)
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng (Novel)
The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck by Mark Manson (Self Help)
08 | eight
It’s okay to feel empty sometimes.
We aren’t just working from home, we are working from home during a pandemic. When I get into a slump, I learned to get up and start moving. Whether it is wiping the surfaces down for the 3rd time that day or watering my snake plant, I start moving.
The Pandemic Class of 2020 | Majored in Zoomology
09 | nine
Nothing will ever go as planned.
Just when we think that we got life all planned and figured out, life happens. This time last year, I was supposed to be living my best life in China — but then the pandemic happened. I talk more about this topic and my experience here in this five-part series. During this past year, I learned to stop resisting reality and accept all the good that has come from that experience.
10 | ten
I am healthy and I am alive.
It is only when we are reminded of death that we truly begin to cherish the value of just being alive. Getting to wake up healthy every day is a gift that I have to constantly remind myself every day.
Month 1: The Beginning
Yes, I put this in a wine glass because I didn’t have any other glass cup. Sue me.
These first couple of months were rough. Like many others, I had no idea what I was doing. In June 2020, I also started writing for my book, so I definitely didn’t know what I was doing. The feelings of uncertainty coupled with the effects of a looming pandemic were a quarantine recipe for disaster.
The transition into online classes was a huge learning experience in itself. I can’t even say that I’m an expert at sharing my screen but I am an expert at clicking the mute button. Graduating in the middle of a pandemic via a broken zoom link was another anticlimactic event of the year. This was also the longest contact that I’ve had with my family members in a l o n g time. I love them but man, please don’t look at me right now, I’m trying to hop onto this dalgona coffee bandwagon. The first (and second time), my mom and I spent 15 minutes trying to whip the coffee + sugar + water mixture. Nothing. We used a hand mixer too and that was tiring. Two attempts and 30 minutes of “THe pROportionS are noT riGHt” later, we found out that the “instant coffee” that we were using was actually brown sugar.
The sugar looks and smells like instant coffee — because my grandma reused the instant coffee container. 🙃 3rd time is the charm though.
Month 6: Is it over yet?
It’s mid-September - early October 2020, 6-ish months after the rest of the world except for America went on lockdown. I spent the past 6 months spitting out empty promises.
“Let’s hang when this is all over! (by the end of summer)”
The temperature started dialing down and I was looking forward to seeing the East Coast fall foliage. Usually, this time of the year is the beginning of midterms season. Instead of driving upstate to hike along the Appalachian trials, I spent weekends cramming for midterms back to back. This year (2020) was different. Ya girl was out of school, unemployed, socially, and emotionally distant. This warranted for a much-needed reconnection with nature.
Month 12: Coming full circle
Before this, it had never occurred to me that I will miss some aspects of quarantine. With each passing day, more and more people are getting their doses of vaccine which means that we are one day closer to the normalcy pre-global pandemic. After 12 months of this shit storm, I found a new sense of inner peace. I will miss the 6 am moments of solitude and gratitude before the rest of the house is awake. I will miss the 2 pm afternoon slump when every member of the household retreats to their corners to process their food coma. I will miss the 5 pm daily walks around the neighborhood with my dog, Montao. I will miss the 11 pm insomniac self that twists and turns to rock myself to sleep. Most importantly, I will miss the routine, the predictability, the little habits that I have planted and grown for the past 12 months.
What will you miss about quarantine when it’s over? What did you learn about yourself? I would love to know.