Pieces of the Pandemic: January 2020 – January 2022

Pre-Pandemic

This was me before the world stopped being what I had known.

The grainy quality of this image evokes an old-time feel even though it was taken only two years ago. It feels like many more years passed between then and now.

Look at me looking all happy, clueless as to how our lives would become a surreal reality just a couple months later.

July 4, 2020

There are more and more people venturing outside, lounging in public spaces like parks and patios.

This is what happens in warmer weather. When the sun comes out, the people follow. We are drawn to it like a magnet. Not even a pandemic can keep us away.

Social and physical distancing guidelines remain in place, and the sight of average people wearing masks as they go about their day has become commonplace. 

This pandemic has really made it clear that we are indeed social animals.

We need each other.

We have a desire to connect.

I usually wear a mask when I go out. To say it’s a hindrance to connection would be an understatement.

There were a few instances this month when I met a stranger’s gaze and wished I wasn’t wearing a mask so that my smile could be seen and shared.

A smile is a language all its own. 

The shortest distance between two people is a smile.

Victor Borge

Life, it seems, is slowly moving towards a new normal. But there are signs that the world is not the same as it was.

I imagine we are all changed in ways that we may only realize later.

January 11, 2021

With most businesses closed except for those deemed “essential,” life has become even more mundane than usual.

I went to the drugstore today and had a chat with a sales associate working in the cosmetics section. It was so nice just to talk with someone, to have that human to human interaction.

When I got home I thought about how much I appreciated this social exchange, and how we can find meaning in the mundanities of life.

January 4, 2022

And here we are two years later.

The world is not the same. We are not the same.

It feels like a loss of innocence. 

Looking through old pictures of myself before the pandemic, I wonder, Was it only just two years ago? Was that me?

Who is the person I see now? 

Despite the uncertainty and inner anxiety, there is a glimmer of hope inside of me. It may not feel as bright as it did two years ago on New Year’s Day, but it is there. Hope is still there.