HOW THE PANDEMIC CHANGED EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING

 I know it's been like two years since the pandemic of coronavirus/ COVID-19 hit, but it is intriguing how the world was changed "forever". Things changed, we changed.

Well, let's take a trip down memory lane, shall we? 

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• HOW IT ALL STARTED...

(FT. MY POV)

Me, being any other normal tenth-grader eagerly waiting for the board exams to end so that I could experience my newfound freedom woke up one fine day to this nerve-wracking, ridiculous, and the most bewildering thing I could ever hear.

That's right, India had its first Sars-Cov-2 patient latched in a self-isolation room.

"What? That's crazy. This is just another clout-chasing gimmick. Things are all right. I'm not gonna let this thing take away my vacation!"

Famous last words.

"Wow, just two more days until I'm free again." Who was I kidding?

The world shut down. Like literally. 

Every one of us was so confused yet so scared of what might happen or what was gonna happen. We were stuck with our unarranged thoughts and furious minds cursing the reason that caused it.

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Not gonna lie,

This was kind of a blessing for indoorsy people and an experience for the people on the other side.

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Productivity vs Relaxation. 

Binging every web series/movie.

Becoming chefs, artists, and couch potatoes😂 just because we could.

• DOWNSIDES & UPSIDES OF THE PANDEMIC

Interestingly, the pandemic brought about so many versions of ourselves we didn't even know existed. It was a whole spectrum of our alter-egos summed up in 6 months.

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Arguably, the downsides are more significant and traumatizing at the same time, but every cloud has a silver lining and the upsides proved to be just that.

Yes, everyone's summer -year got smashed miserably but we received a much-needed revelation.

Time.

During all this, all we had was time. Before, nope no traces of it whatsoever. But this time (pun intended), the world was forced to take a gap year. 

That meant we could sit back and relax and for once not worry about when the world would open up again. Spend time with our families, just refuel ourselves from the crazy life we were living on the go. 

Just because of this, the world was somehow brought closer although being so far at the same time. 

Timeless things like playing cards, board games, reunion group video calls, trying out new recipes, and just letting things happen at their own pace were things that kept us sane throughout these times.

Trends started circulating on just about every social media platform out there. Food, music, fitness, wellness, Fortnite?! You name it. Every single person was happily doing their own thing in their own element. It was a peaceful period we all needed. Forgetting all the worries for a while, felt good.

Although it didn't take long for the bad times to kick in, just because we were zoned out for way too long made zoning back in feel difficult or in my case, extreme.

Schools, colleges, offices, and everything shifted online.

The world became more digital in those three months than it ever had in the last three years.

How to study was somehow an alien concept. 

We became too engaged on social platforms. Online tutoring just didn't work. 

We just couldn't get our work done.

That's when emotional rage started to creep in. 

Even though many people connected during the pandemic, some people lost their connection with the world and some with themselves. 

Introvert-ness increased. The feeling of being caught up in our own thoughts increased. 

Leaving our well-built comfort zone was far more challenging. People losing their people made this worse. The news channels reporting the number of cases and deaths every day were disheartening.

Addiction to our devices increased.

Sleeping patterns changed. 

Will-power started waning.

Just when we thought things were getting better, they worsened even more. 

Doctors work day and night for the affected patients. 

Respect, for every single person who was working during the pandemic.

We had changed, The world had changed, irrevocably.

Things felt helpless. 

Despite all the negativity, breakdowns and sorrows, anxieties and overthinking, burnouts, existentialism, and a roller-coaster of a year (or two), things finally started to take a positive turn. 

The downsides led to the upsides making us emotionally strong and very self-reliant.

Things finally started opening back up, and the world started functioning again. Rush hours, morning coffees, and offline-everything was back on the grind. 

Only a bit...too quickly?

• POST-PANDEMIC  AFTERMATH AND TRENDS.

The post-pandemic keeping up was a lot harder than the pandemic itself in my opinion because everything was shut for two years and now it's opening back up again. It was hard adjusting to the lockdown phase itself, let alone the opening up.

Our lifestyles changed. And then the pace at which everything was happening became difficult to cope with and things got overwhelming. 

The world opened up wounded in a way. Mortality, lost jobs, affected mental health, still being scared to go outside and socialize...too much to handle after being in the comfort of our beds, right?
In such a scenario, taking your own time to adjust to the surroundings and ACTUALLY trying to do so is a full-proof solution :)

Not only was the pandemic probably the most bizarre thing that has ever happened, but it was also a real trendsetting period of our lives.

So many trends were circulating and going viral around the globe which kept the world alive.

Pandemic was somehow a paradox.

It came with its own losses and its benefits. The good times and the bad ones. We lost some things we did want, and some we didn't.

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Paralleling the losses, the gains were far superior; we gained perspective, confidence, emotional stability, and the ability to get through almost any situation.

It was all about reflecting back and moving on. Unless you make peace with the past, the future will seem much more anxious and overwhelming. 

Lamenting over what we could have done is not important.

The important thing is that we got through it. We can look back and say, "Yes, Covid got the worst of me; but not the best ;)"

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