As I’m writing this piece I’m looking out across Lake Michigan from our “fish-bowl,” a room we named in our new house. It’s snowing right now which is weird… it was sunny 5 minutes ago. My dad is sitting next to me and my dog, Remi, is at our feet.
If there is anything this pandemic has been good for, it’s been that’s it’s forced me to re-evaluate my priorities in life — or at least it has exposed them. I haven’t been able to reorganize them yet, but at least I know where they stand.
The first few weeks were ones spent in despair as the gyms all closed and friends started self-isolating. I talked to friends who were miles away, but we were on the same page: for the first time in our lives, we felt aimless, like ghosts floating by, not touching anything… not leaving a trace of our roaming, no evidence of us even existing.
Several weeks later, I still have these thoughts. I have them multiple times a day. But occasionally (and more frequently now), I snap out of it. I look around, see my dad and my dog, see the snow falling over Lake Michigan in our new house… these are things I will remember. These are the silver linings that I should be grateful for. Though this pandemic has closed many doors — for some, permanently— it has also opened many. I am grateful to have the opportunity to train my mind to frame my situation into more favorable contexts.
