Positive Covid test forced me to reflect on solitude
Tani’s positive Covid test.
January 27, 2022
This past week, I spent my time alone in my bedroom. With COVID.
In the midst of my quarantine, I was pretty much asymptomatic and miserable to be at home. I love school. And though that is a quite unpopular opinion, it’s true!
As you can imagine, spending this time at home was not amazing for me. I felt ready to take on school and I missed my friends, learning, and, of course, writing articles for the Greeley West Word!
So, what did I do this week? I finished three television shows, built a fort, took down a fort, successfully avoided online shopping, ate way too many peanuts, talked to my friends as much as possible, attempted to register to vote and then found out I already was, cleaned out my closet, put on mascara for the first time in months, painted my nails, super deep-cleaned my room and bathroom, went a little stir-crazy, tested to see if I could speak song lyrics like a casual conversation, finished a book I thought I hated but turns out that’s not true, planned dream vacations around the world, crafted endlessly, thought I could see the big dipper from my window (I can’t), slept a lot, and – somehow – more.
Although there was so much I was doing, it was hard for me. When everyone was in quarantine back in March 2020, I struggled quite a bit. And, in some ways, this brought me right back to that place and I felt really lonely. I was worried about the assignments I was missing in school, thinking about what it meant to be sick, and sad that I couldn’t be with my family and friends.
However, my cat and I got to spend a lot of quality time together and I also mindlessly played tons of games on my phone and leveled up past the point of healthy gameplay, which all kept me pretty distracted.
I can’t say that I really enjoyed my time away but I did get to rest, which my body doesn’t get to do a lot. And I am grateful for that. I am also grateful for Netflix and the millions of romance movies I have on hand because of it.
So what did I learn from this? My time alone is something that doesn’t have to be my favorite thing but it still is necessary to focus on my own personal development. Taking time for yourself is just as important as making time for others. Don’t wait to get sick to look out for you.
