Last year, everyone can agree that the pandemic changed things for the worse. I had a few family deaths, dealt with my first break up, and had my California dreams snatched away from me. Throughout the summer and even my senior year of college I found myself staring at my four walls, inside my house day after day. And although I did continue to go out with a few friends, the whole pandemic took a mental health toll on me to the point where I promised myself: this summer will not be a repeat. And boy was I right.
My one mission this summer was to celebrate life. Many have describe the post pandemic life as the roaring twenties. People are just happy to be outside after unfortunate events (cough..the pandemic..cough). No drama, no stress, no awkwardness, just a live in the moment type of fun.
So What Did I Do?
I have never had such a productive summer but fun (probably my most fun) summer. I recently got promoted at The CW with some extra cash (temp tho), I am going to start taking my driving lessons soon (praying I’m not gonna be a Spongebob), I finally managed to get my therapy kicking again after some BS charges (capitalism) and I’ve been having some great family time lately. And if I’m not hanging with my family on weekends, I’m often hanging on rooftops with friends or going over to their places. Just this Friday, me and a few girls from the we went out to a lounge and hit a bar right after: NYC night life. And it was one of my most carefree moments in my twenties.
And I thought to myself, if it weren’t for the pandemic I wouldn’t have been this adventurous to go out, let alone hang with these girls. I mentioned to them directly how in California, I was in my own friend group over there, not really opening myself to others. But because the pandemic made me starve for social fun interactions, I was like why not get to know these people now? These girls did have the same goal as me: they just wanted to get out the house and have fun.
And that’s exactly what we did ironically thanks to the pandemic! It’s also a thanks to my California semester: one of the most life changing events in my life. The people I met/befriended and the passion I have now, is all due to that decision to study away. Hell, I even have new online friends, something I thought I would never ever do.
Realistic Optimism
Now I won’t say everything is 1000% perfect because it never really is. Despite my promotion, work can get overwhelming, going out too much gets very expensive especially with drinks involved, and job hunting is…a pain. And after being followed home one day, I’ve developed an insecurity of me monitoring how I dress in the summer because of the increase of men who stare and catcall 😑. Even more so, I think about the access I have to friends and family here and I know how much that will dwindle when and if I go to California. It’s part of the reason why I’ve been so out much more and taking in what I have. And, we all know thinking about the future in any aspect can be fearful.
Despite that, I can’t dwell on the negative (at least now). There are so many things to be appreciative of and frankly, I’ve done so much dwelling the whole last year 😅. I think because so many restrictions are lifted, I feel like I have my freedom and control back. And before life has its lows again, I just wanted to document some of my highs. It always lets me know things get better.
Besides, we all know life is stressful and we are going to find our “unhappy moments”. It happens. But why not give the positive happy moments some time to shine.
