“March 18th, 2020: When it comes to how I feel mentally, I’m falling apart slowly. I’m a very social human being and this confinement is getting extremely hard.
March 21st, 2020: I understand now that the lockdown is a blessing or a curse based on how you respond to it.
March 22nd, 2020: It is great to have this chance to go through introspection and kind of find the reset button, press it, and change the things I hated the most about my life.
March 26th, 2020: I’ve been feeling grateful for the things I’d always taken for granted – seeing my friends, hugging the ones I love, going to the barber shop every once-in-a-while…
March 28th, 2020: I feel like the bond I have with my family has grown stronger, and that makes me really happy.
March 29th, 2020: University’s making me more anxious than ever. To hell with Microsoft Teams!
I’ve also written down some of the activities I’ve been doing and changes I’ve experimented…
March 19th, 2020: I started drawing and painting again… it feels great.
March 21st, 2020: I started working out. Hopefully I’ll do it every day as of now.
March 24th, 2020: Caught up with some old friends. We’re all trapped inside so it’s kind of great that at least we’re all going through the same thing.
March 27th, 2020: I realized that sleep is indeed important three days ago. I feel fully energetic now, but I have to work on not sleeping at 6 AM…
March 28th, 2020: This was the first salad I’ve had in like a month, and it was fantastic.
March 29th, 2020: Okay, time to focus on university work again. But, when I’m done with this project, I really need to find myself a book to read.” – Georges Homsieh.
I met Georges at a birthday party and we clicked pretty well once we found out we had the same taste in music and we both drew/painted. However, ever since that birthday party, we never crossed each other’s paths again… well until I came across his VSCO account.
Long story short, we chatted a few times and he gladly agreed to share his testimonial regarding the lockdown. Turns out he saw me write down the first Quarantine Journal and decided to start documenting his days himself.
What I love about this testimonial is the succession of events and how each of the above dates highlights one particular feeling or activity – a day-by-day report of realizations, feelings, and new experiences!
What also grabbed my attention was how things like eating a salad, which to others might be trivial, really marked the 28th of March for Georges. It kind of reminded me of how my quarantine started; my dad came home from the grocery store with a huge stock of kaak (breadsticks), biscuits, etc. So, the first time I had a carb-free meal (a salad, basically), I felt like it was the most delicious thing I had eaten in a long while. I find it amazing to know the value of even the most common of things.
Finally, I think that documenting our days is an important activity to help identify our current mental, emotional, or even physical state. If you check those psychology and well-being pages on social media you’d see that they recommend journaling. After experience, I can confirm that.
Have a great new day in Quarantine. x
Found a New Home 