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The Pandemic was the Best Thing That's Ever Happened to Me

Let me explain..

By Shae MorenoPublished 4 years ago 3 min read
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The Pandemic was the Best Thing That's Ever Happened to Me
Photo by Edwin Hooper on Unsplash

Lets go back to March 17th, the day I was told my work was closing for two weeks in response to COVID-19. About a week or so in, all restaurants, bars, etc. were closed until further notice. I work in a coffee shop, so that meant me. Okay. So a few more weeks? I really didn't know, and nobody really did. What started out as two weeks turned into two and a half months and it was one of the best things that's ever happened to me.

When I say it's one of the best things that's ever happened to me, I mean having time. I in no way want to dismiss COVID-19 because I do understand the danger of it. That being said, I stayed the fuck home for two and a half months. What that meant was I got unemployment. I got $760 a week in unemployment. In a normal week at the coffee shop, I make about $220; so that money was life changing for me. I felt like I was able to breathe for the first time in a very, very long time. I also qualified for a stimulus check which, again, was life changing. Because of this money, I was able to pay off 3 credit cards. I was able to buy a new mattress for the first time in a decade. I was able to pay all of my bills on time for the first time in two years. I was able to put money into my savings account for the first time in two years. I was able to breathe. This assistance made it possible for me to get ahead.

I was also able to have the down time to take care of myself and my mental health for the first time ever. I easily get overwhelmed with just the idea of existing. I also have anxiety and depression. The two and a half months I spent at home with my dogs was difficult at first I won't lie to you. I'm an avoider, I go out and do things to avoid being alone with my thoughts. The thing is, I couldn't go do anything so I was stuck with myself. The first few weeks, I occupied myself with YouTube or movies or reading so I could still hide from whatever it was I wanted to avoid. After a while, I would catch myself having these internal monologues about what's really important in life. I started sitting outside and contemplating what I wanted in life. I started making lists of how to achieve those goals. I found my drive again, I found my purpose again. By the two month mark, my mental health had never been better. All because I had time to sit with it, to feel it, and acknowledge it. In a time when most people with the same mental health issues as me we panicked or feeling hopeless, I was finally feeling alive.

Even now, as we are starting to see a second wave, I stay home most of the time. I returned to work on June first, like most people in my area, but that did not mean things went back to normal (whatever that means anymore). And the more I think about it, I don't want anything to do with what used to be considered normal. Normal made it so I couldn't pay my bills on time. Normal made it so I didn't have time to heal. Normal was never normal to begin with. Now that we've seen what is possible, what can be done for the people and what we can do for each other, why would anyone ever want to go back to normal? Why go back to letting people struggle when we know we have the resources to change that? Now that I’ve seen the other side, I refuse to go back to normal because that wasn’t normal.

humanity
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About the Creator

Shae Moreno

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