“The first two weeks were a mix of stress, agony, and uncertainty because we were supposed to be doing our midterms at the time, so we were worried about what was going to happen next.
The thought of taking online classes also left us quite uneasy simply because the Wi-Fi’s terrible! It basically just felt like more and more problems were accumulating, and it was all becoming too much.
Then one day, mid-week, I don’t know what got into me but I thought to myself, “Hmm, let me get up and do something productive” and I literally did everything I said I wanted to do but always postponed because “I didn’t have time”: I updated my CV as well as my LinkedIn profile. I got myself some internships with the help of my father and his colleagues. Of course, I started playing a lot of piano and guitar every day, both accompanied with loud singing – I guess everyone’s had enough of that by now! I learned to play some new songs too.
Aside from that, there were things I was incredibly excited to learn. For instance, I started watching drawing tutorials because I wanted to develop a new talent. I really enjoyed it. Not to mention all the cooking and food pages I came across on Instagram that got me excited to learn how to cook. Even if the things I learned were simple, like making myself a foamy Nescafe, I think all of this is pretty great!” – Chady Haddad.
When Chady told me all those things it really put a smile on my face. It got me to think that, even if no one’s asking us to be productive during our time at home (except maybe universities, sigh), I think it’s a great chance to do more of something that has always interested us – either practice it more, improve what we already know in that field, or learn it from 0.
Personally, I always felt a little embarrassed that, as someone who’s been drawing and painting ever since she was little, I never had the chance to sit and learn more about different artistic periods and different art movements in history. A couple of days ago, I discovered an application called Google Arts & Culture – it is a platform that offers users an incredibly wild variety of topics about art, history, and cultures, for them to learn more about what interests them. Yesterday, I enriched my knowledge about Impressionism – all I previously knew was that the colors they used were usually faded and the paintings were not very clear. It’s much more than that, and I know that now.
I thought Impressionism was intriguing because I’d seen a few Claude Monet paintings and thought they were very pure and authentic. Reading about it got me mesmerized, so I’ll definitely be writing something about it soon.
So, here is another encouragement for you to try and explore new things, even if you’ve been feeling like you just want to stay in bed all day and do nothing.
I don’t want you to be too hard on yourself, though. Do one thing at a time – maybe today you can fix your CV, and perhaps Sunday you can bake a cake on your own! The point is, take it slow – explore what you find fascinating meticulously. If not today, tomorrow, but promise me you’ll try.
Have a great new day in quarantine. Take care. x
Found a New Home 