My Pandemic Story 2020

Hello, world! from Surkhet, Nepal.

I just wanted to check in with everyone about how they have been so far. As we all know that the whole world has been going through hard times, we are all at the same phase. But I really hope that everyone is safe in their homes, spending time with their loved ones. I wanted to update everyone on how my life changed since the lockdown started in Nepal. I also wanted to share what I have been doing to deal with the current situation.

My safe space was something I lost due to COVID-19. Things changed suddenly in many people’s lives. To me, it brought me to my home from the capital city where I was working and studying for my Bachelor’s. Leaving everything right away in whatever conditions things were was the hardest decision I had to make on that day. Shifting room in Kathmandu is always disastrous. So the next day I had to get shifted to another room. I wish my roommate carried all the stuff in a small van. As soon as I got done, I was rushing to travel on a very crowded public bus to go to my home in Surkhet. I sat with three people in a seat of two for 20 hours. There were people all over the place inside the bus. I had the worst trip ever. After reaching home I had to isolate myself from my family members, relatives, and friends. The empty walls of my room made me feel lonely every day. Getting back to work in a home setting was really difficult for me to manage. My work used to get imbalanced for a couple of months. At home I was living with my older brother in Surkhet, Nepal. My mom, younger brother, and dad were away. They were stuck in India due to the lockdown. I couldn’t physically meet my friends and hang out. I couldn’t even concentrate on my work and I ended up missing the deadlines. I started struggling with my mental health issues. I felt like I am living in a completely different world. I didn’t have my own safe space, a comfort zone. I found myself left alone. Getting adapted to this pandemic situation was really difficult for me personally. I had to convince myself and set up that mind for the virtual world. To divert my brain from negative thoughts I decided to keep myself busy. I even consulted a therapist to overcome the situation which was really helpful. Then I often did journaling, writing short poems, reading articles, a lot of cooking, trying out new dishes, listening to the music, dancing with my sisters in the room sometimes, cleaning the house, working in the garden, attending meetings on zoom, participating in online writing workshops, taking short breaks in between work, maintaining my bedtime, drinking delicious milk with my grandma and listening to her nonfiction stories. I have my own imaginary safe space now where I go every day, get relaxed and get back to work. In the end, everything shifted to the virtual world.

My Pandemic Story 2020 | My Days at Home During Lockdown — Surkhet View at Evening

A photo by Alina

The Pandemic Story 2020

Slowly, things started getting better and balanced. It brought me closer to my family, improved at work, and at the same time, prepared me for the virtual world. This lockdown has taught me to be careful, take extra care of my health, be sincere, give time to my loved ones even virtually, catch with my friends on social media, maintain my things and use this technology. I am actually thankful to those great people who discovered such technologies for human beings.

The global pandemic of COVID-19 has really affected us emotionally, physically, mentally, and socially but still there is a hope that one day we will be back to our normal lives. No one knows for how long or where this situation will take us but things will get better soon. I found out that journaling and sharing are really really helpful for me especially during this pandemic. I have already chosen this bigger platform as a form to express myself. I am happy to share whatever I am feeling at the moment with you all. I really appreciate that I am able to reach out to more people than I thought through this platform. I am actually loving it. I would also encourage you all to express how you are feeling in whatever way you are comfortable. Look for what would help you the most. If it’s not writing then it could be something else. Don’t stress out, please. Keep calm, explore and move forward. So like I said let’s create a safe space for each other and for more people, share how we are feeling, spread love and be with them during the hard times. It’s all about helping each other, showing humanity, love and making them realize that they are not alone. Don’t let this pandemic decide your future because it is brighter. Everything will be fine!!