Pictured Above: If this pandemic has taught me anything, it’s that life is like a roller coaster ride, full of highs and lows.
Aya Diab | The Crow’s Nest
By Aya Diab
One day, when all of this is over, what will I remember about the COVID-19 pandemic?
As I sit back and think of my life before COVID-19, I am struck, to say the least, by how everything around me has changed. With time passing like it’s running for its life, visualizing the world before it was plagued by the pandemic is only becoming harder and harder.
I am baffled.
But I accepted my new normal — not a very long time ago — to protect what is left of my sanity.
If anything, these times have taught me how fast everything can change, and how sometimes, we are not left with any choice but to adapt. After all, we are one of the most adaptive species to ever exist on earth, aren’t we?
The beginning of the spread happened during my last semester of my undergraduate degree. It is as if the virus did not think of any better time.
To put it mildly: it was messy.
Whether it was an isolated trip to the park to watch the ducks, or a fruitless drive to absolutely nowhere, I managed to get through it, when everything was still so vague.
Aya Diab | The Crow’s Nest
I finally had the time and (no other options), but to read a book, I thought to myself. I took on drawing, bought myself a bicycle and went from there, hoping my clouded thoughts would scatter.
Pictured Above: Kafka on the Shore is one of the most famous books by Haruki Murakami.
Aya Diab | The Crow’s Nest
Pictured Above: Cycling has been a breath of fresh air and an effective way of coping with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Aya Diab | The Crow’s Nest
Fast forward to today, cycling works. More than anything, it is the perfect way to declutter your mind.
Sadly, I can’t quite say “this is how the pandemic has changed me,” as the pandemic – and its collateral damage – is still very much alive within all of us.
It is a ride that none of us signed up for, but like everything else in life, it will come to an end.
Coping, just like healing, is different for everyone. I found what works for me and I hope you find what works for you.
