One week ago, President Biden mourned the 500,000 COVID-19 U.S. death count by holding a candle lighting ceremony to honor the victims. Needless to say, the last year has been challenging and tragic for people. Everyone has adopted new norms and avenues of functioning, socializing, learning, and working. As months continue to progress, the future remains hopeful but unpredictable. Living during a time of unpredictability can be confusing and stressful, but it has motivated people to extend consideration to others and reexamine their own pre-pandemic behaviors.

The pandemic has sparked larger social realizations about community, the workforce, lifestyle, and others. Minimum wage jobs such as fast food or retail occupations were considered expendable in society. During lockdown, these were the jobs deemed necessary and the workers who filled these occupations were now publicly valued. The people who were once at the forefront of stigma in the workforce are now essential.

Operating remotely can be stressful and difficult to navigate sometimes whether it be for work, school, or both. However, this has allowed people to spend more quality time with those close around them, like family, siblings, or roommates. Before the virus, it was much easier to put off prioritizing time to see family or old friends. By being in a state of unpredictability while living closely together, more positive relationships can be built upon instead of distanced.

Not only are people allowed an opportunity to foster better relationships with their loved ones due to social distancing or quarantining, but people are also forced to spend more alone time. This has encouraged self-reflection and learning to stay in the present by doing nothing. Because that’s all we can do. To make the world a better place while living in a time of skepticism and unprecedent, the best thing to do is keep your world small and appreciate what you already have. Try to do little things that will brighten someone’s day and for yourself.

Instead of looking at the pandemic as an obstacle to seeking temporary gratification in a setting that jeopardizes public safety, look to yourself and loved ones for personal fulfillment. Is the need to not be lonely easier than the moral labor that comes with looking out for others and seeing the bigger picture?

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