Making The Most Out Of Quarantine: Staying Connected, Mental Health, & More

Sofia Isabella Flores
Sep 23, 2020
5 min read

Unless you are entirely cut off from humanity, (my occasional and extremely introverted dream) you are aware of the restrictions and adjustments placed on all public events, gatherings, etc in most counties and states.

What are students, teachers, families, and all others to do?

While many sacrifices and alterations must be made for both safety and comfort reasons, there are a multitude of activities and personal outlooks that we may all take both pleasures in and full advantage of.

1) Stay Connected With Your Friends & Loved Ones

Most people of this generation spend the majority of their time and social interaction on technology as it is; use the phones, tablets, laptops, social media sites, and apps at your disposal; use them for good. We are all experiencing an unimaginable and highly odd time; these circumstances could not have been prepared for, but it does not mean we have to dread them entirely.

Reach out to the individuals in which bring you joy. While we cannot spend time with them in person, we are still to enjoy their company via text, postal mail, Zoom, email, social media, and countless others.

The jokes we exchange with friends.

The memories we share with family.

The songs we trade with others.

The love, happiness, frustrations, and struggles we share with our peers are integral aspects of our lives. It brings us closure, perspective, and a sense of belonging - a feeling that we are not as alone as this era of isolation seeks to make us.

Do not take for granted the tools that have been gifted to us.

Keep in contact with the students, teachers, friends, mentors, and individuals that have benefited your life. While conversing with them and discussing life, hardships, highlights, thoughts, and reflections, we are given a glimpse of not only the beauty of human connection but also small pieces of our existence before "the quarantine."

It is quite simple to reach out to those whom the world has placed in our lives. And it is a mere marvel just how much your well wishes, kind messages, encouraging statements, and small interactions can uplift both our own souls and those of others.

This shall maintain a small sense of normalcy throughout a time is anything but. And, it will help us all to pass the time in a worthwhile, positive way.

2) Remain Optimistic Yet Practical: Make Plans for the Future & Work Towards Them In Logical Increments

Sadly, we cannot go on our beach days, road trips, or travel abroad programs.

However, it is trivial and, quite frankly, depressing to live under the impression that simply because we cannot do these activities as planned, that we will never be given the luxury to do them again.

While many timelines are tentative and uncertain, the world will, indeed, one day return to a regulated, somewhat average state.

We will one day again walk the Santa Monica Pier with our friends.

We will one day again stroll the Starwalk on Hollywood Boulevard and fail to meet celebrities.

We will one day again study and cram for finals over a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

While the limitations thrust upon us now appear permanent and unrelenting, they are not. Be that as it may, the choices we make during this time are, in actuality, very permanent and vital to what our lives are to be when our circumstances do change.

Plan your first day back to your school campus:

What would you want to wear? Who would you want to see and speak to first?

Plan your first time out in normal circumstances again:

Where will you go? Who might go with you? How long would you like to spend there?

Plan your first big gathering:

Will you attend a concert? A festival? Will you go to a party?

Plan and prepare for the important upcoming events in your future:

Are you preparing to apply for college? Are you in the process of choosing your school? Are you studying for your ACT or SAT? Are you practicing and preparing for your driver's test? Are you in college, grad school, high school, middle school, and continuing to work towards your next step?

Plan and lay out a general structure for what you want for your life, but do not obsess over making it a perfect rendition of past ideas; if nothing else, this era has taught us that the world and all within it can change in a very instant and that almost nothing can remain constant. We must hold true to what we long for and strive after, but we must also evolve and adapt to the ever transforming universe in which we inhabit. -

Small, sometimes tedious actions in the present can have an enormous, largely positive impact on our future.

Despite many aspects of the world around us seemingly at a pause, the course of life itself has yet to fault. Therefore, we must continue to work towards what will become of us when all within our own lives once again reach normality and usual pace.

3) Do What Fills You With Joy: While Following The Necessary Precautions, Continue To Seek Comfort In Your Favorite Activities

*For the love of all things good and pure, please do not defy your local protocols and guidelines.*

Although there are certain constraints within the levels of what we are capable of doing, for the time being, we have the privilege to live in a generation of unparalleled liberty, individualism, and self-sufficiency.

It would be an utter tragedy to regress and allow our passions to be forgotten.

We are still allowed to do what makes happy, better people in society. Yes, many of our favorite activities are now on hold or greatly altered, but we are not to despair and completely neglect our own yearning for joy and contentment.

We must remain hopeful, diligent, and creative.

Read

Write

Sing

Dance

Create

Spend time in your yard, patio, treehouse, or local scenic areas (That is, safely and within regulation.)

Watch your most treasured movies and shows. (Beware, TV Shows and series will consume your life. I have watched all of Downton Abbey in one week during this quarantine, and I do not know if I will ever fully recover.)

Be sure to spend time with your pets. (they are absolutely amazed that the entire family is home with them now.)

Keep exercising and doing the drills, routines, and physical activities that you enjoy.

Go on a car ride. Take in the sights and senses of the areas around you.

Learn a new skill.

Make the most out of your remote learning.

Listen to songs and podcasts.

Be present and lively with your family and those whom you can be in contact with at this time. Plan activities with them.

Garden, plant, compost, and transform your local environment.

Clean your room. (Your mom will thank you.)

Spark up a conversation with someone new online from school, church, clubs, or extracurricular activities. (My gosh, please use the cyber safety information that has been drilled into your head from elementary school.)

Volunteer and serve your community. Research, call, and email local charities, hospitals, animal shelters/rescues, rehabilitation centers, senior living facilities, and homeless resources to find out how you can donate, aid, and support them during this time.

I cannot add more to the list without feeling like a cheesy self-help writer. I hope you get the main message of what I am trying to convey.

The world is not at a standstill, but rather, a reconstruction.

Be a contributor, a building block, if you will, to its revolutionary repair.

There is no limit to your own potential. You are the deciding factor in all choices. Take the necessary steps towards building the foundation of your destiny.

Research what limits have been placed on the area in which you live and seek out opportunities to do the tasks that make you most cheerful and grateful.

It is true that we do not know when this will all come to an end. But the same is said about our lives in general as well. We must take advantage of this time within our lives and make the most out of it, for it is far more than some have ever had the privilege of receiving.

All will, at last, be well.

The Earth will still turn.

And the love of life and adventure we carry in our hearts will empower us through this very odd time.

In light & peace,

Sofia F.

There are no limits to the beauties you will find if you believe in them.