Life During a Pandemic: Experiences, Changes, Silver Linings

Maryam

As the world was gradually settling into staying at home, things were still dandy here in Russia and the foreboding self-isolation that seemed to be coming for us was terrifying for me. After all, I love being around people! The reality, however, isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Finally, I go to bed at a reasonable hour, and I wake up before my alarm. I set up a little mini-office in my kitchen so I can reach into the fridge with one hand while responding to emails with the other. My friend gave me a yoga mat just before this all started so I’ve even managed a spattering of yoga. The fact that almost everyone I know around the world is spending endless hours at home makes the whole experience easier too: I’ve been catching up with many friends I haven’t talked to in a while, I attended an online pub quiz using a combination of Google Meet and Kahoot, and I even got to attend my friend’s baby shower in Texas via Zoom. I’m so grateful to have friends nearby, too: we check up on each other on WhatsApp daily and exchange ideas for meals and food delivery. We even managed to fit in a Zoom coffee break with my colleagues today. So while there have been a lot of adjustments and a lot of uncertainty, I’m always grateful to have good friends and good food!

Catherine 

As a student, I tend to measure time in semesters, and this was about to be a hectic one, packed with eye-tracker practice classes, two to four lectures on an almost daily basis, not to mention the office hours and dozens of theater performances and museum visits planned. It would be nothing to say it was devastating to have lost it, so I spent the first week of self-isolation quietly grieving the spring I might have had, whilst also constantly checking the news, spreading myself thin with countless chats with friends and family (as I don’t get the luxury of seeing anyone face-to-face these days), and trying to find something stable to hold on to. I am sure many of us went through this in some form. Luckily, this stage didn’t last long, subsiding with every Zoom class, every distant study group working session, every task that I managed to get off my list. Gradually, new routines entered my life, and everything stopped being so up in the air. Right now, I, too, am grateful, for everyone I have in my life;, I know I have found my strength to be at their side and support them no matter what. 

Kseniia

For me, self-isolation has changed everything and nothing at the same time: I’m lucky enough to stay engaged in all the activities I used to be engaged in, but now only at home. I also don’t live alone, so it doesn’t feel like complete isolation. The only thing I’m missing out on is spring in Pskov, my hometown. It’s most beautiful when everything begins to bloom. Going home is the first thing I’ll do when this is over.

Still, not everyone is as lucky as I am, and anxiety is out there. It’s hard not to succumb to it, but I hope we’ll overcome the crisis, and become more reasonable and conscious about our life choices along the way. Being cut off from the rest of the world can help us understand what is important, and what can be left out.

Vasilii

I was lucky enough to leave the city and organize everything I needed for remote work long before the pandemic broke out, so I can’t say that my routine has changed much. Sure enough, they’ve closed off the woods as a prevention measure, but with the start of the actual spring, I’m busy enough with cleaning the house, mending the fences, tending to the trees and a multitude of other tasks that country life has to offer. 

Then again, I’ve somehow become more considerate towards my friends who are now isolated in the city, and started to spend more time talking with my elderly relatives, something that I always felt that I needed to do but never actually found the time for. So I guess there are good sides to everything, even coronavirus.

Anastasia

I’m not a silver-lining kind of person on the best of days, and with my friends scattered all over Europe and several family members especially at risk, I can’t say it’s been going swimmingly – my brain’s been a blurry, panic-stricken mess and all I’ve been wanting to do is to sleep, tenderly hugging my box wine (which is basically quarantine juice at this point isn’t it) at my side. Knowing that it isn’t going to stop anytime soon doesn’t help. The only thing that does bring some solace is cinema, books (yay for escapism!), and a very filtered-out presence on social media – seeing people trying to comfort each other or completely losing it like I am has been just a little bit heartwarming. 

Anna

First, I feel grateful for being healthy and safe, being able to stay connected with family, who are also doing OK, for food in the stores, and for the internet. It seems like one of my biggest challenges in this current situation, apart from the obvious ones, is the fear of missing out. I see people doing virtual tours of museums and cleaning out their closets. I see them baking elaborate cupcakes and spending hours participating in online art challenges. Someone’s transforming their front yard into a beautiful flowerbed. Someone’s delivering food to neighbors. Even with seemingly endless opportunities to experience this unprecedented time in some unprecedented way, my day consists of trying to jam together work and entertaining a four-year-old who wants to build a science lab just as I’m getting dangerously close to a deadline. Maybe it’s a good time to remember that you are enough and you do enough and all you can do is be grateful. And when you need to feel part of the changing world, you can do Frozen Cosmic Yoga.