On the Bright Side…

I try to be an optimistic person and look to find the positives in every situation, including the one we are in the middle of right now. I’m very fortunate that none of my family members have been negatively affected by COVID-19 so far. For me, being forced to stay away from loved ones and unable to participate in many of the activities that I enjoy have been the only negative consequences affecting my life because of the virus. Still, I’m trying to look on the bright side; some positive effects for me have come out of this situation. Here are a few:

• I’ve gotten to know many of my family members more deeply. My large extended family has been having weekly Zoom meetings. These were initiated as a way to keep my 89-year-old mother feeling connected. Because she lives independently in a facility that has restricted visitors, none of us can go see her. Since many of my nieces, nephews, siblings, and their spouses have been joining, and we each take a few minutes to talk about what’s going on in our lives, I know much more about each person’s life right now than I’m usually privy too. The participants in these meetings span the ages of six months through my mother at age 89. Sometimes my mother’s sister joins the meetings; she’s 97. Someone in every stage of life is there!
• I’ve expanded my cooking repertoire. Boredom does lead to creativity. I’ve always enjoyed cooking, but now I’ve had the time to research recipes to try; many of these will be permanent fixtures in my meal planning. I’m sure my diet has become more balanced as well.
• I’ve saved money by not eating out as much. While I’ve been making an effort to get takeout twice a week to help keep some of the restaurants in business, my overall eating out ends up costing much less than it did pre-pandemic.
• I’ve sped up my rate of reading books. I’ve been reading books at a torrid pace for me. Just in case you’re looking for some good books, here are a few that I’ve read most recently and enjoyed:
  • “These Ghosts are Family” by Maisy Card
  • “A Woman of No Importance” by Sonia Purnell
  • “Pachinko” by Min Jin Lee
  • “Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line” by Deepa Anappara
• I’ve spent so much time in my house that I’ve made a long list of household repair tasks. The items on the list don’t qualify as being on the bright side, but the fact that the list now exists, and therefore a plan can be made to tackle these jobs, is!
• My house is cleaner than it was pre-COVID. With more time spent in the house, so that messes become more obvious to me, and without the time spent getting to and from work, I have more time to keep up with the day to day chores of picking up, wiping down, vacuuming, etc. Too bad no one can come to see me. I hope I can keep this up once we’re released!
• The traffic in the city of Boston is non-existent. Driving around the city is like driving at 7am on a Sunday all day, every day! I think that’s going to be the thing I will miss the most as we come out of pandemic.
• The weather is much better than it was in mid-March when we started this experience. It beckons me to come outside and even though many of my favorite outdoor spaces are closed or only allow decreased numbers, I can still walk to my heart’s content and enjoy the beautiful weather!

What about you? Although it’s very difficult to ignore the negative effect this virus is having on our local, national and world population, have any positives come out of this situation for you?

And, on the bright side, here are my six-month-old twin grand-daughters, seemingly not bothered at all about the quarantine that has affected their family for more than one-third of their lives!