Quarantine Thoughts

I hope quarantine / social distancing / isolation has been going well for you. To be quite honest, it’s been going pretty great for me. I haven’t had this many good days in a row in a long time. Usually, in the days pre-coronavirus, I’d have a few good days then I’d have a few days where I’m just counting down the hours until I can go to bed just so I can restart on a new day. I’d just be so exhausted all the time. I don’t know, maybe that’s just me. Typically those crap days would revolve around school or work. I’d get tired of my office job, and I’d get tired of going to classes to learn things that don’t interest me, aka finance, or learn things that are common sense. The only class I thoroughly enjoyed going to was my global climate change class because I love learning about the environment and especially what I can do to lessen my carbon footprint.

Well ever since we’ve had the whole stay at home and social distance go into effect, my days have gotten brighter. At first, it was a little weird. I missed going to school and getting out of my room. I spent hours in my room on zoom meetings for my classes and I was forgetting to eat and to take breaks aka do things that didn’t revolve around school like go outside for a little bit. Then not too long after we started isolation, my parents left to stay at our cabin so they can do some work on it. It went from them planning on staying there for a week which inevitably turned into three weeks. Well with them gone I began to become less of a hermit and started getting out of my room. I started taking my classes down to my kitchen and cooked breakfast while my teachers lectured. Sometimes I’d stretch during my lectures too. Should I have been taking notes? Sure, maybe. But self care’s important too.

On the days I don’t have classes or where classes end early, I’ve been thriving. I’ve been painting a lot and I can actually see my art improving. I’ve gone on so many bike rides and recently went on a couple of hikes. I would highly recommend going for a bike ride or walk on the Coyote Creek Trail that goes from Morgan Hill to San Jose, or just going for a hike in the mountains near you. Everythings all green and pretty and all the wildflowers and poppies are blooming! Aside from the outdoors, I’ve had a couple crazy hat & sunnies dance parties with Trev involving lots of beer, liquor, and margaritas, I’ve cleaned out like half my closet, and I’ve been reading a lot. My goal’s to reach 100 books by the end of the year, and this is a really good time to binge read. (P.S. I’ve been reading Normal People by Sally Rooney and I absolutely love it so far! I’m trying to finish it before the 29th so keep an eye out in Book Club!)

Another thing I’ve been doing a lot is gardening. I’m currently in the process of trying to grow some flowers, strawberries, and bell peppers. I also created a cozy outdoor area so I can lay in the sun and read all day. I have plants hanging from the wooden patio cover thing along with string lights, I have plants all along the edges, and I have a little garden day bed in the middle that I plan on upholstering soon. It’s honestly becoming my little dream area. Pretty soon I want to add in a little hammock swing chair too!

On top of all that, I’ve been practicing cooking! Trev and I recently made mahi-mahi fish tacos and garlic asparagus and it turned out amazing! I made pasta primavera on a different day which was pretty tasty, and we also made some chocolate chip cookies from scratch and these peanut butter banana oatmeal squares that were healthy and hella good. Maybe I’ll include those recipe’s on the blog one of these days, we’ll see!

Anyways, I hope isolation has been going well for you. If anything, I hope this post can give you ideas or inspiration for things to do. This time has been super humbling for me. Yes, it’s a scary time where no one really has a clue on what’s going on and it doesn’t help that we can’t see our family or friends or do our normal daily things. I just love that mama earth is thriving right now and is able to get a break from the chaos humans cause. I also appreciate this time to pretty much be forced to be alone with my thoughts. I’m learning more about myself during these times and am learning to do things on my own. Now’s a perfect time to set some goals, make some plans for later this summer, and reflect on things. Clear out your mind, your closet, your room, whatever. Do some things for yourself. What’s something you keep telling yourself you’ll do but you keep putting off? Now is such a great time to start on things you’ve been wanting to do. Don’t let things scare you. Life is so long yet so short when you look back on it. One day you’ll look back on these days where you’re figuring out your 20’s, possibly still living with your parents, and possibly still working a part-time job. You’ll wonder where the time has gone. Will you be happy with how you’ve spent your days or will you wish you spent more time outside or with your family or something else? I try to film every day. At least just a small clip a day so by the end of this year I can relive my year. I try to spend at least a little bit of time outside every day whether it’s just going in my backyard to wave hi to my plants or taking a solo walk. I try to take as many pictures as possible on my film camera because I love the surprise when I finally get them developed. I try my best to live in the moment. I try not to look too far into the future and I try to not dwell on the past. Yes, I miss life just a few years ago when my friends and I were constantly visiting Isla Vista and I was attending Cabrillo College which is the best college ever and there was no pandemic. These were really great memories and I’m so glad I got to live them, but it’s also important to focus on now and making these days into what will be great memories. Yes, I’m rambling but it’s important to remember that these days will one day be a memory and you don’t want to look back at a wasted youth. Or at least I don’t. During these times while we have to stay at home and social distance, try to switch up what you do throughout the day. Try to keep things interesting and try to find a new hobby. It’s really easy to get into weird moods right now, it’s understandable, but that doesn’t mean you have to stay in that mood. Workout, paint, clean, lay in the sun and photosynthesize with your plants or your pet, cook or bake something, whatever gets you moving. Honestly just do something to keep yourself busy and keep yourself from spiraling down in the darkness of your mind. Get creative and active. Appreciate the little things within your day. The sun is out, it’s getting warmer, the birds are singing, and the hills are green. Life is pretty dang beautiful. If things sound repetitive, sorry. That’s just me being Ramblin’ Han. If you want to talk, text me, email me, DM me.