“What I really like about this whole situation is that I’m spending lots of time with my family instead of each one us sitting in a room on his or her own. We even have time to pray together now. Usually it’s difficult to find a time for all of us to pray together but we’ve been doing that more frequently lately, and that is really nice.
I’m enjoying the moments when I cook something or when I play games with my brother on his PS4, because I typically couldn’t do those if life were ‘normal’. However, university thinks that since we’re home, we have a schedule that is “more free”, but that is definitely not the case. I have a lot of work assigned, I have to keep up with a million things at once, therefore this is also taking a good part of my time.
Oh, and I’m enjoying video calls – I didn’t do that before. My friend used to insist on video-calling me and I’d always refuse. Nowadays, it’s all about the video-calling!” – Rackel Dahdouh, 21.
“This quarantine has many surprising hidden positive outcomes to it. It gives us time. Time to reflect on ourselves, our lives, our emotions, our goals, and what really matters to us. People will hopefully walk out of this having a better appreciation of where their aspirations and priorities lie and not willing to take their lives for granted anymore. It has certainly given me a clearer direction and in a weird way, more structure now that social distractions and some obligations have been put to a halt. Recently, my sister and I had the chance to bake a cake together for my mother’s birthday. We are in different countries, but doing this gesture and then video calling her to hold a virtual birthday celebration was a treat in itself. It was very relaxing and enjoyable to be able to take the time to bake a cake and do something nice the best way we can while not worrying about other obligations I had to get to right this second, places and classes I had to be, or promises I had to keep to friends and peers. This idea probably would not have come up had we been preoccupied with the hectic hustle and bustle of our day-to-day lives, and we would have just been content with video calling her to wish her a happy birthday and check in.” – Christina Riachi, 21. (Montreal, Canada)
“Quarantine is honestly something genuinely great that has happened to me because it allowed me to “Pause” my life; everyone is on pause, so I’m not late for anything. I’m trying to make the best use of my time because this is an highly valuable time that I prayed for – believe it or not – because my life is full of action, every day full of different things to do, to the point where I don’t have time for myself!
I first decided to build this habit of waking up early in order for my day to be long and fruitful; previously, on weekends or during holidays, I’d stay asleep until 12 P.M.!
I’m also learning Syriac as well as new recipes with my mom. I actually have more quality time with my family now – this didn’t happen before because each one of us had a life of his or her own. Additionally, this time is helping me get back on track spiritually, and I think it’s crucial that everyone realizes the importance of this time we have between our hands. We’re so caught up in life’s daily chaos that we sometimes want to pause everything, have an extra day, or have an extra week to have some more time for ourselves. I’m practicing my Spanish, dividing my days and weeks based on my priorities – something I didn’t have the chance to do before. I’m very happy.” – Lynn Nader, 20.
“Ever since this quarantine began, I didn’t feel like I was unproductive…except maybe for the first two weeks. However, when online courses started, I decided that I was going to start working out. I’m working out every other day for 40-50 minutes.
Furthermore, I’m spending a lot more time with my parents – I didn’t see them as much before because my dad is a surgeon hence used to be at the hospital all day and all night. My mom is a lawyer so she works a lot as well and used to come back home at 7 P.M. every day. This explains why I barely saw them. Plus, I’d come home from university in the evening and start studying shortly after. Today we have lunch altogether! It may not be something special to talk about, but I’m feeling genuinely good at home. I’m not complaining at all about wanting to leave the house. Of course, I want this pandemic to end and the best for our Earth and the people, but so many individuals are nagging about wanting to leave their houses whereas I’m feeling pretty well here. I think that even when all of this will be over, I’ll choose to stay in regardless!” – Nour Lana Karam.
All the above testimonials emphasize a leading factor in our lives – Time. It isn’t news that everyone of us reaches a point where s/he wants life to slow down so that s/he could take a moment to inhale deeply, then exhale slowly.
I don’t know what it is about us humans, continuously seeking to be in different places, find what we are passionate about, applying to different clubs, trainings, classes, internships here and there, writing papers, driving somewhere, working on something, rushing to the hospital for a shift…
The amount of people who hop on the metro every hour is insane. All these people on their way to do something. In the end, we all wish we could have one day off and do absolutely nothing.
I think in a world that is metamorphosing so rapidly, where there is too much of everything (but at the same time where new disciplines making their first appearances), we all feel kind of lost as to what really drives us in life. We say ‘yes’ to whatever knocks on our door because we think it adds value to who we are. It’s a vicious cycle, because we lose time by filling up too much of our time.
When I’m submerged with work to complete, I sometimes think if it’s all really worth it. When I see my parents drowning in work obligations, I worry about them. This quarantine has been tough on them too because there are a lot of changes, and at the beginning, my parents couldn’t find time for themselves either.
These last two days were difficult for me because I was extremely repulsed by everything that had to do with work, and for other personal reasons. My friend then said to me, “Those are two days off from your duties. You’ll get back on track soon,” and I eventually thought of it that way.
Unlike universities, I’m not saying you have time now to give you more things to worry about. I’m just saying that, quarantined or not, always dedicate at least a day per week to take care of yourself. I’m not asking you to be incredibly productive, but just take a day to appreciate what a great person you are and what great people you are surrounded with, maybe make a few calls and tell them you love them! Take a day off to go out with your sibling(s) for a change. A day like this is crucial. Giving yourself a break from daily chaos is indispensable for your well-being, remember that. 🌸
Found a New Home 