How the Covid-19 pandemic helped me improve my quality of life

May 22, 2020

First of all, I would like to address that this pandemic has had horrible repercussions across the globe.

Over 5 million cases have been confirmed worldwide, including 333,000 deaths as of May 22.

Ontario has suffered a devastating blow in long-term care homes and over 1 million Ontarians lost their jobs due to the coronavirus.

Many of us have either been directly affected by this or know of someone who has.

The heartbreak and stress caused to so many people are impossible to comprehend.

Personally, I have found myself dealing with financial stress.

As a full-time post-secondary student, I was rearing up to get back to work as my courses came to an end.

And then, the world stopped.

All of my job interviews were cancelled, my partner was unsure about how his work would be affected by all of this and we began having those hard conversations of where we could make cuts to our spending in order to get by.

He continued working as his job was designated an essential service.

Even though we took a hit because I couldn’t return to work, we consider ourselves very lucky to have any form of income.

With all of this being said, around mid-April I fell into a stress-induced depression. I missed spending time with my friends and family, the ever-growing number of cases and fatalities began weighing on me and my concern for my partner out in this strange new world weighed heavily on me.

Eventually I was able to pick myself up and establish a new “quarantine routine” –trying to include as much time outdoors as I can.

I started trying a lot of new recipes, took out my old bike, did some much-needed spring cleaning and tried implementing some at-home workouts.

My partner and I even built up a section of our yard and have started a beautiful vegetable garden.

I’ve been making a more serious effort to check in with friends digitally and have had some very physically distanced walks along the beach with my sister and mother.

I have also found myself connecting in a meaningful way with neighbours I had never spoken to.

Making small-talk with strangers I meet waiting in line for groceries, pass on walks or people who stop to chat while I’m sitting on my front lawn.

A few weeks ago, I was speaking with my partner when he came home from work and I told him that I thought people seemed nicer…

I spent my whole life living in the Beach, knowing my neighbours very well and often having conversations with people in my favourite cafes or staff in local businesses.

I moved in with my partner in 2019, we’re currently living in south-western Scarborough and I never felt the sense of community I had living in the Beach.

But that changed when we were out on a walk and an elderly gentleman came speeding up behind us on a bicycle, aggressively ringing his bell and telling us to get out of his way.

We were both ready for a negative interaction when the man came up alongside us, slowed down and flashed us a beautiful smile. One of those smiles that crinkles your face and shines out of your eyes.

“Isn’t it just gorgeous out?” he said to us in a kind and welcoming voice.

We were pleasantly surprised and spoke with him for several minutes before he went on his way.

It was weird, in a wonderful way, and I realized that I never really had spoken with our neighbours.

As we continued our own walk, we came across a man, his son and their leashed cat.

They were sitting on their front stoop drinking tequila and boasting about the Cinco de Mayo themed meal they had just had.

So we took some time to speak with them for a few minutes as well.

It was after these interactions that I realized that I was the reason I didn’t feel a sense of community.

In the pre-COVID world, I was too busy to slow down and acknowledge people and the beauty in the world around me.

After this shameful realization, I’ve been making an effort to talk to my neighbours, take time for self-care and spread whatever happiness I can – as it’s so needed during this pandemic.

With so much talk from our various governments, public health officials and citizens about the “new normal”, I think it’s important for everyone to find out what that means to them.

For me, that entails wearing my PPE, maintain distance whenever able and finding my joy in-spite of these strange times.

I encourage everyone who reads this to think about what a new normal would mean to them and how they will interact with the world around them.