The world was used to running. It appeared that every single person on earth thought it impossible to not continually be in motion. Since the clock was always ticking, time was worshipped. I thought the world would stop if we all stopped moving. If we all thought the earth moved around its orbit because we never stopped running, then COVID-19 came.
Earth experienced a change it didn’t see coming. I still wonder why movies that showed us 2030 didn’t tell us how 2020 would be. COVID-19 introduced us to a system we didn’t think we’d completely depend on. It is true that we were used to virtual meetings, but we didn’t think that a time would come when we’d only be able to meet virtually.
COVID-19 has proved that not everyone needs to be at the office to get work done. It has also proved that nothing is too important. We discovered that more than time, life is more important. We found that businesses could wait. Parties, meetings, and everything that kept us on our feet could wait.
The wait made us suffer losses. Countries ran into recession. But I wouldn’t say the effect of COVID-19 has been completely negative. I haven’t forgotten that lives were lost, I also haven’t forgotten that a lot of people were severely depressed. Our loss breaks my heart. But I am one of the few who are on one hand sad about COVID-19’s negative effect and on the other hand bold enough to say that it wasn’t all that bad.
Time spent at home gave me a chance to discover myself. And yes, I’m not only thankful that I survived, but I’m also thankful that I found myself. I discovered that writing is all I want to do. Do not assume that isolation was a reason I began to spill ink, cause it really wasn’t. I started writing before the pandemic. But did I know writing is all I want? No. Did I know writing for my blog would awaken the sleeping writer in me? By now you must have caught up with the fact that I started a blog during the pandemic.
If you look for me now, you’d first find that I’m a writer, but this writer studies Biochemistry. And time spent in classes and laboratories refuses to give space for the writer in me to surface. I knew I’d appreciate time off school, COVID-19 gave that. Time spent in isolation put my mind to work. I saw myself create stories, and I saw my hands eager to show my readers the thoughts in my head.
I can say now that before the break, I was following a laid down pattern– school, tests, classes… But I wouldn’t admit to myself that I was doing all that for the sake of it. When I saw the poems I wrote, I saw myself smile. There were times I read my blog posts and was marveled at them. The beauty of combining words, was what kept me entertained through the moment of pain. The moment when we saw figures showing the increasing departure of people we don’t know, and for some, people they knew.
