Looking at the milky way reminds me how small I truly am.
The pandemic has greatly reduced the types of things we can do for fun, which makes it easy to forget that life can be more than just the mundane. But while our options have changed drastically, it doesn’t all have to be the same day-to-day grind. While adapting to a world gone crazy, I found that I needed to find things to keep me from going crazy! Some big and some small, these are some of the things I found brought some light back into my life during the pandemic.
- Going on walks on the beach with a friend.
“The sea does not like to be restrained.”
–Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief
The ocean is so enormous and powerful that being near it simply demands attention. It always has a way of pulling me into the present, like a slow but strong current lulling me back home. Maybe it’s adrenaline, but it’s what I craved. It’s what almost felt normal during last spring and summer, which is strange since I’d never been much of a beach person before the pandemic.
- Going for a road trip.
“Attitude is the difference between an ordeal and an adventure.”
–Bob Bitchin
As a kid, I used to hate road trips. But since then, I have slowly come to enjoy them. With the pandemic, a road trip has become something of a treat– even if it’s just going to the next state over. With many stores, sights, and tourist locations closed, I’ve come to have a greater appreciation for the adventure of the journey. One favorite trip was a weekend in NY with my mom and one of my best friends, who attends college there. Another was a short trip to NH to buy some candles with my other best friend (my BFFL, which stands for “Best Friends For Life”, obviously). Of course, me and my BFFL didn’t have to drive an hour away in order to buy candles, but the drive was most of the fun!
- Stargazing.
“Let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.”
–JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
One of my good friends got me into stargazing last summer when I was going through a rough patch. We would lay outside for hours, and she would provide free therapy by listening to all my problems. Now, I will sometimes go outside by myself to just gaze out into our galaxy for a bit. Looking at the stars seems to always make my world feel small, but in a good way. Like my decisions don’t matter as much as I worry they do. Like my problems aren’t as big as I think they are. Sometimes it’s a nice feeling, and it always reminds me that there’s a big world out there.
Notes from a Galaxy Girl 