Addison Laird – Page 3 – Literary Arts Blogspace

The Offical Bucket List

The Earth is 4.543 billion years old. The continent of North America is 200 million years old. People didn’t come to North America until 15,000 years ago. The United States of America wasn’t even established as a country until 244 years ago! And now, in the year 2020, I am 17 years old.

This world has been around much longer than I have and will continue to be around loooong after I’m gone. During these 17 years, I’ve done some pretty remarkable things. But will I ever really get to do everything I want to? No one can answer that.

Below, I’ve compiled a list of things I want to do before I die. Sure, some of them might seem silly or weird, but if I can make it happen, then this is exactly how I want my life to look! So without further or do, I present to you… my bucket list!

The City of Lights

Who hasn’t had fantasies of wandering the streets of Paris? With its rich history, beautiful architecture, and romantic atmosphere, Paris is almost like a fairy tale come to life. For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to go there. I don’t care if I live there for years or visit for just a few hours, but before I die, I will see Paris!

Road Trip!

Sure, I’ve been stuck in a car for hours on end before, but my friends were never there to make it spontantious and interesting! The idea of packing up and piling into a car with your friends to go road tripping has always sounded fun to me! Where exactly would I want to go? I honestly don’t really care, as long as we get to see some cool things!

Home Sweet Home

The ultimate dream is to one day live in a house that seems like it’s come right out of a movie! Examples of this are:

70s homes have always been really appealing to me and I don’t know why. Maybe it’s the colors? Maybe it’s the lack of sharp angles on the furniture?

If I ever drop off the grid and flee into the mountains to live in a cottage as a “fairy princess”, do not be alarmed. I am just living out a dream that I’ve had since I was six.

I’m already on the verge of turning my dorm into a forest, so if one day my house is JUST plants, don’t be surprised.

Lights! Camera! Action!

As a Media, I work on many video projects. Two are on MSA’s official Media YouTube channel and more will soon be on RISE’s website, but those have been strictly for school. One day I hope to make something (whether it be a short film, a documentary, etc.) completely of my own, without the restrictions of having to abide by rules. I aspire to make a deeply personal project one day, whatever that may entail.

Mukbang

Who hasn’t wanted to eat an obscene about of food all at once? I know I have! I don’t think I’d want to make an entire YouTube video about it, but I like the idea of getting a bunch of food with some friends and just pigging out.

Performing Live

This is the only thing on this list that I’ve (technically) already done. I performed a few songs with my cousin’s band a few years ago, but I was still a very shy person back then. I’ve always wanted to be on stage with a full band, screaming into a microphone and dancing around like crazy. Don’t get me wrong, I can’t really sing anymore, but it still sounds fun!

Dancing

I’m sure if you’re reading this, you’ve probably seen me dance before. And if you haven’t, then you most likely will if you go to any of MSA’s dances. At every school dance, wedding, and party I’ve ever been to, I’ve rarely left the dance floor. I don’t know why this is, I’m not even that good of a dancer! But regardless, I loooove to dance. I personally don’t think anyone should care what they look like when they dance. They should just dance and have fun! With that said, I do think it would be cool to actually learn how to dance one day!

In The End…

After everything is said and done, the main focus of life is to just enjoy it and to help others enjoy it. I’ll be okay if I never make it to Paris in my lifetime. I can live without ever having some cool, absurd house. The number one item on my bucket list (and yes, it is cheesy) is to just enjoy whatever I can get out of life!

I want to get a good job that I enjoy and spend time with the people I love. I want to help others try to enjoy their lives, and while setting goals is important, I want to be okay with the fact that I might not get to do everything that I want. That’s why it’s important to seize moments when you get them, because life is too short for regrets.

Am I Better Off?

Do not ask me how my summer went. All I will say “Good! How was yours?”. I’m lying. It is so much more complicated than that.

My summer was filled with high highs and extreme lows. Everything I was looking forward to was canceled, everyone I wanted to hang out with was quarantined, and I couldn’t do anything about it.

I’m writing this in order to put a positive spin on what I’ve been through. I want to know if the months of little to no social interaction and constant intake of information from the media have done me any good at all. Am I better off than I was six months ago?

Feelings are weird

Quarantine took a toll on my mental health, as I’m sure it did with everyone. I felt very deeply about missing out on the final months of my junior year at MSA. For me, MSA is a safe, happy place where I live and work alongside friends and can create freely. Sure, I have freedoms at home and can create there if I wish, but it’s just not the same. The atmosphere of MSA is unique to it alone and being deprived of it kinda sucked.

Along with MSA, a lot of other summer activities that I was looking forward to were canceled due to COVID. My family had planned to take a trip to Washington D.C., I had planned to help with the summer children’s show at my local theatre, and I wanted to take my friends on a road trip for my birthday! Suddenly we couldn’t take a plane anywhere, the theatre canceled the summer show, and my birthday party happened over Skype.

I guess in a way I was mourning. I had lost the last bits of my junior year and most of my summer to something completely out of my control. Sometimes I felt bad about feeling bad. Thousands of people were (and still are) mourning loved ones who lost their lives to COVID, so me not getting the birthday celebration I wanted really shouldn’t have been a big deal.

The thing is though, I was allowed to be upset about it. The way the world works, people will always have it better or worse than I do, and I really can’t change that. So I was allowed to feel bad when I can’t go back to school. I’m allowed to feel bad about the bad things that happen to me.

I understand that this may seem obvious to some people. Maybe you’ve lived your life just being able to feel whatever you what to whenever you want to. If so, good for you! But for me, it’s harder to recognize my feelings, accept them, and move on. After quarantine though, the process has become a lot easier!

I kinda like me now?

When you spend a lot of time with yourself, you realize a lot of things you didn’t before. For instance, I’m a very affectionate person. I did not realize how much I depended on physical affection until I stopped receiving it. I thought that the occasional hugs from my family would be more than enough, but I was surprisingly mistaken. It’s kinda cool to know that even though you’ve been suck with yourself all your life, you can still learn new things about yourself.

I also spent a lot of my time in pajamas with no makeup. I’m a very self-conscious and the idea of leaving my house with no makeup used to rattle me quite a bit. But after the months in quarantine with no makeup ever on, I became used to it. After a while longer, I finally stopped wearing makeup for the wrong reason. Well, the wrong reason for me. There is absolutely nothing wrong with using makeup to cover blemishes or lighten dark circles or anything else like that. But when I used to do that, it became less of me covering up the occasional pimple and more of me wanting to change everything about my face. It got to a point where I seriously didn’t enjoy looking at it without makeup on. However, over quarantine, I seemed to have made peace with my face as is. I can’t change it, so I’m going to love it as is. Now when I wear makeup, I wear it as a way of expressing myself.

Overall, I enjoyed the time I spent with myself. Sure there were more lows than highs, but now I know that I can make it through and come out stronger. It makes me so much more appreciative of myself and who I am. If I can make it through months of quarantine during a global pandemic, then I can make it through a heck of a lot more!

So to answer my question, I think that I am better off now than I was six months ago!

Saying Goodbye

I don’t have the words to express exactly how I feel. MSA was just starting to feel like home when we had to leave. It’s completely unfair. I’m left with so many regrets of what I should have done, who I should have spoken to, and who I should have held onto a little longer. I can’t stop thinking about what I would have done differently if I knew that my last days at MSA as a junior were coming sooner than I expected.

I can’t imagine how the class of 2020 feelings. They’ve worked so hard to get to where they are and don’t deserve what’s happening to them.

This past month has caused me to realize quite a few things. I was surprised to miss certain things that I’ve been taking for granted. I’m determined to do things a bit differently once quarantine ends.

One of the hardest things is coming to terms with the fact that I only have so much time left to be a kid. It didn’t seem to matter before, but now that my friends are leaving for college, I realize now that that’s going to be me next year. I’m going to be an adult, which I’m not ready for. I feel like I’m running out of time.

I don’t want to be a senior. Not yet. But my junior year is coming to a closer much faster than I ever thought it would. And now we’re going into a summer where people are going to be scared to go out and have fun with their friends because of the coronavirus.

But the fact of the matter is that we’re not getting a choice. We’re going to have to say goodbye to our seniors and then become ones ourselves, regardless if we’re ready or not.

I miss MSA a lot. And now that I can’t be there, I want to be there more than ever. It’s a sad time, but it’s taught me not to take it for granted anymore.

I have one goal for next year, and it’s to enjoy every moment of it. I do know how cheesy that sounds, but it’s the best way to put it simply. I want to talk to more people, I want to go to more events, and I want to experience everything at its fullest.

So, even though it’s come quicker than I thought it would, I will say goodbye to my junior year. And it’ll be okay. I know I can make next year even better.

Yep, definitley not a Literary

At MSA, students are given the opportunity to take classes outside of their chosen discipline. This was one of the most appealing things about MSA to me when I was first applying to go, as I enjoy writing, acting, and filmmaking, but couldn’t be a Literary, Theatre, and Media. It’s definitely a great option to have for a school of kids who are multitalented!

But you may be wondering “But what is it actually like to take a class outside of your discipline?”

I (a Media) have been taking a Literary Playwriting/Intermediate Fiction as apart of my second-semester classes at MSA and after experiencing as much as I could (pre-Coronavirus), I have learned a lot that I’d like to share.

Firstly, I’m definitely not a Literary. I auditioned for Literary because I do enjoy writing, but after experiencing a Literary class for myself, I do think that becoming Media was the right option for me.

Writing is a very isolated thing. It’s not a group project, it’s something you have to do on your own. That’s is no way a bad thing, but it’s just not for me. I’m not necessarily an outgoing person, but I do enjoy working with other people. This is why my favorite part of the class was the workshop! I’ve never gotten feedback on my writing like I did during workshops. Everyone’s unique perspectives and options helped me to see my work in a whole new light. It’s forever changed not only how I view my work, but also how I ask other people to view my work when editing.

I’ve also enjoyed blogging a lot more than I thought I would. When writing a play or a short story, you have to have characters, a well-structured plot, a setting, etc. It’s a lot to keep up with and can become stressful at times. But with blogging, it’s just me and my thought, which is a lot easier to write. I honestly find blogging very enjoyable and even relaxing!

So overall, I think that everyone at MSA should try at least one class outside of their discipline if they can. It’s a great way to access your strengths in another field, and if you’re like me, it’s a good way of also assuring that the discipline you chose was in fact the right one for you. You can also end up gaining an appreciation for other disciplines and the people in them!

Classic Disney Channel shows according to someone who never watched them (until now)

I don’t know what I would do without technology at a time like this. These days, all I’m doing to watching TV. I’ve watched and rewatched shows across Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+. So with the extra time I have to watch things, and having already blogged about older Nickelodeon shows (Drake and Josh and Victorious), I decided that now would be a great time watch some of the most well-known Disney Channel shows that I never watched growing up.

The Suite Life of Zack and Cody

The Suite Life of Zack and Cody premiered on Disney Channel in early 2005 and ended in 2007. I was only around the ages 2-4, so I never watched it while it was on TV. In fact, I don’t think I even started watching Disney Channel until about halfway through The Suite Life on Deck (2008-2011), which I actually did watch occasionally.

Season 2, Episode 13 – Bowling

I know the basic premise of these show. It’s about twins living in a hotel. Other than that, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. I’m more familiar with the Sprouse twins as they are now as opposed to them during their Disney days, but I can safely say that young Cole and Dylan were great child actors. The cold open for the episode is just the twins arguing with each other, and then Zack pushes Cody out into the hallway wearing nothing but a towel and locks him out of their room. It’s great! Honestly, the best points in the episode were when the twins were interacting with each other. And the theme song was pretty good too!

I also enjoyed their mother, Carey. She was one of the only other characters in the show that didn’t seem to be overexaggerated just for the sake of comedy. I might just be being overly critical (it is a show for kids, after all), but it really wasn’t that funny. A lot of the jokes don’t exactly make sense and a lot of the show’s comedy comes from it’s overly exaggerated characters, such as London and Esteban. London is supposed to be extremely dumb and Esteban is supposed to be extremely Peruvian, I think. And they’re supposed to be funny, according to the show’s laugh track. But I found them more annoying than anything.

Mr. Moseby and Ashely Tisdale’s characters were just okay. I could have sworn, before this episode, that Arwin was Zack and Cody’s dad. Turns out that he just has a weird thing for their mom, but everyone in the show seems to be okay with that once Arwin wins a bowling tournament for them.

The episode revolves around a bowling tournament between the rival hotels. For some reason, the rival hotel team is aggressively German. I don’t know exactly what it was supposed to add, but it was kind of funny at times. Zack is the hotel team’s star player until his mother grounds him for locking his brother in the hallway while he is naked. Zack then recruits Arwin to take his place, as Arwin is a champion bowler. He leads the team to victory.

Overally, it wasn’t bad. I can definitely see the appeal and understand why it was so popular.

3/5

That’s So Raven

I barely had any idea what this show was about. It was on Disney Channel from 2003 to 2007, which is way before I even started watching Disney Channel, so I never saw any of it. It wasn’t until sometime in the past year or two that somebody told me that Raven could see the future. I had no idea!

Season 3, Episode 5 – Five Finger Discount

Okay… so it was really good. It was genuinely funny with fun characters and a great message. I’m a little surprised with how much I liked it.

In the episode, Raven’s younger brother, Cory, is pressured into shoplifting. After facing the intense guilt of his actions, Cory decides to return what he stole and stands up the kids who peer pressured him. I don’t know if all of the episodes of this series carry important messages, but from what I’ve seen and heard on social media, That’s So Raven has dabbled in the topics of body positivity and racism. Maybe its just the particular episodes I’ve watched, but I have seen much along these lines in any other kids show that came out around the same time. It’s a nice change of pace.

The comedy was genuinely really good. Raven and Cory’s interactions were amazing. I laughed out loud at several points. Raven is a really fun main character. I love the sweet and supportive relationships in her family. Cory is adorable. Her friends, Eddie and Chelsea, were barely in the episode, but they were still okay. I didn’t like the kids that pressured Cory into stealing. I know I wasn’t supposed to like them, but their lines and dialogue in general was just genuinely annoying. I also didn’t like the theme song as much as I thought I might.

Overall, I really liked it. It’s a fun premise and I definitely would watch more of it.

5/5

Subtitles Really Aren’t That Bad

I don’t understand why some people think that reading subtitles isn’t worth their time. If you only speak English and refuse to read the subtitles on a show or movie in a different language, then you’re missing out.

Greed and class discrimination threaten the newly formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan.

Parasite, the first foreign-language film to win Best Picture at the Oscars, is an absolutely phenomenal (it also won Best Director and Best Original Screenplay). Trust me when I say that you don’t have to be a studious film buff to enjoy it. It was added to Hulu last week and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since I watched it. If you watch anything this quarantine season, please let it be this. You won’t regret it.

Set in a world where humanity lives inside cities surrounded by enormous Walls, gigantic humanoid creatures call Titans attempt to devour humans seemingly without reason.

Admittedly, Attack on Titan is popular, so anyone who’s even casually watched anime has probably seen a little bit of it. But even still, it’s one of my all time favorites and I felt the need to include it. It has amazing action, characters, and animation! The story is filled with twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat! It’s great! All three season are currently on Hulu and the first one is on Netflix, so if you’re looking for a good action anime, I’d recommend starting here.

I Lost My Body (2019) - IMDb — A cut-off hand escapes from a dissection lab with one crucial goal: to get back to its body. As it scrambles through the pitfalls of Paris, it remembers its life with the young man it was once attached to, until they met Gabrielle.

I Lost My Body is a French movie on Netflix that was nominated for Best Animated film at the Oscars this year. It has the same vide as laying on your bedroom floor for hours just staring at the ceiling, if that makes sense. The animation is really good. The characters in this movie rarely speak, and yet you get a good feel for who they are as people. There’s a severed hand that, despite just being a severed hand, makes you feel all types of feelings that you never thought you’d feel for a severed hand. Overall, it’s pretty different from your average animated feature film, but it’s a welcome change!

Have you ever started watching a show that you thought was going in one direction but then something happened within the first episode and suddenly the show was going in the complete opposite direction that you thought it was? Yes? No? Doesn’t matter, you’ll love these shows anyway.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica is not your average magical girl anime. Without giving away too much, I will say that Google say that genre of this anime is both “Magical Girl” and “Psychological Thriller”, so do with that information what you will. It is on both Netflix and Hulu.

School-Live! (otherwise known as Gakkō Gurashi!) starts as your typical school girl anime, but quickly evoles into something much darker. This series only has 12 very short episodes, so it’s a quick watch, but every second of it is filled with artfully placed symbolism and foreshadowing. The relationships formed between the four main girls is a wholesome display of female camaraderie. You can watch it for free right now on Crunchy Roll!

Of course, the world of foreign language films and shows is basically endless. These aren’t even a fraction of the types of subtitled masterpieces that exist. Please, please listen when I say that if you watch exclusively English content, you’re missing out. New worlds that you’re sure to love are just waiting to be discovered by you, if you’d only look for them!

Remember to stay safe and healthy during these time! And if you feel up to it, read some subtitles, just for fun. Take care!

More about social distancing and mental health

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that there are four main groups that respond more strongly to the stress of a crisis. Of course, these groups include healthcare providers and people at a higher risk of COVID-19 being fatal. But these groups also include people with mental health conditions, children, and teens.

To keep mentally well, they’ve suggested the following:

Take breaks from watching, reading, or listening to news stories
Take care of your body. Try to eat healthy, well-balanced meals, exercise regularly and get plenty of sleep
Make time to unwind. Try to do some other activities you enjoy
Connect with others. Talk with people you trust about your concerns and how you are feeling

With each passing day, it seems as though it gets harder and harder to keep up hope. My mom updates me every day on who in my town has been diagnosed with the coronavirus and I know a lot of them personally.

I’m not doing amazing. But it’s not awful either. I’m keeping up with school work and trying to keep healthy physically. To keep healthy mentally, I’ve been talking with friends as much as possible. I’ve also been exploring the worlds of television and movies, finding new things to watch!

So far, I’ve watched (for the first time):

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

A cute, classic movie about a lovable alien making friends with a bunch of kids. Kinda like a lighthearted Stranger Things.

I Lost My Body (2019)

This movie made me feel so many feelings toward a severed hand. Not my favorite, but still a good watch. It’s on Netflix!

John Mulaney: New in Town (2012)

My entire sense of humor was shaped by this man. Also on Netflix!

Missing Link (2019)

This was such a cute movie!! From the lovely animation to the whimsical plot and characters, it was an absolute joy from beginning to end! Watched on Hulu!

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

It was amusing, but exactly my type of humor. On Netflix!

Onward (2020)

The first half of this movie was kind of disappointing, but this second half was pretty good! I’d be lying if I said I didn’t cry. It was recently just added to Disney+!

Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003)

I actually did see this once when I was younger, but I didn’t remember much about it. It fully lived up to be everything I remembered and better! Watched on Hulu!

TV shows I’ve binged in their entirety include American Vandal and Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness (both of which are Netflix series).

I wish I could write more about how to keep mentally healthy, but that’s really all I have. What’s mainly been keeping me going is the people around me. If you’re not already reaching out and talking to people, please do it. These past few weeks, I seem to be talking with a new/different person everyday. And it’s great! I like knowing that everyone from MSA and my old school is doing okay!

Please keep inside, keep happy, and keep safe! I love and miss you all!

– Addison

Social distancing and mental health

As of writing this, it’s been:

27 days since I last saw MSA

23 days since I vacationed in Florida for spring break

20 days since I’ve hung out with friends

14 days since I’ve began self quarantining

For this week’s blog, I want to talk about how the past few weeks have effected me mentally. I know that everyone is kinda going through it right now, so I wanted to put my own thoughts out there just to let you know I’m going through it as well and you’re not alone.

I’m been trying to distract myself with some sort of technology or doing schoolwork, but ultimately, I’m just bored. And I’m bored, I have no choice but to just think. I end up thinking about the friends and family that I haven’t seen or heard from in awhile. I think about all that’s happening on the news. I think about all the things that I’ve wanted to get done at home and now that I have the free time to do them, I’m unmotivated.

This time alone with my thoughts as made me realize that I take a lot for granted. Mainly, I take MSA and my friends for granted. I have actually never wished that I was at home or back at my old school while at MSA, but now that I’m stuck at home, I’ve realized that I’ve taken a lot of my independence and the resources of MSA for granted.

I also have become unmotivated. There are days that I wake up and just want to lay in bed and stare at the ceiling all day until the sunsets. I know that this isn’t a healthy mindset, but a lot of boosts in my mental health have come from seeing friends and hanging out with them.

Sure, we still FaceTime and play games online together, but it’s not the same.

But of course, now that I’ve spend enough time alone and away from the rest of the world, I’ve begun finding other things that make me feel better.

Things I’ve begun doing in quarantine to keep me busy:

Finding free videogames or old videogames to play
Watching movies that are out of my comfort zone
Walking in the evenings when it’s cool outside
Cooking and baking
Gardening
Making YouTube videos again
Finding new TV shows to watch

I hope that you all are also finding new ways to keep yourselves entertained. We’ll make it out of this soon! I miss and love you all!

– Addison

COVID-19 facts and happy thoughts!

I don’t have to explain to you what’s been happening in the world, I know that you already know. Personally, I’m sick of hearing about it. COVID-19 is all over the news and its all everyone is talking about. It has shut the world down and taken over our lives.

However, I am severally uneducated about it. Amid the chaos, I decided that I wanted to do some research on the virus while also finding other things to things that could bring me some hope for the future. So if you’re like me (badly out of the loop and craving some reassurance), then here are some happy thoughts and COVID-19 facts (sources and links included @ bottom!)

The Origin of COVID-19

2019’s coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a respiratory illness that spreads from person to person. It was first identified in Wuhan, China in December of 2019. General coronaviruses originate in animals and are usually not transmissible to humans. If you have a dog, chances are that they’ve been vaccinated for some sort of coronavirus (such as canine respiratory coronavirus). Occasionally, a coronavirus can mutate and pass from animals to humans. This is why health authorities in Wuhan believe that the virus was transmitted to humans by contact with animals at a live animal market in the central city of Wuhan.

WUHAN TODAY

China has announced that it will lift the lockdown on Wuhan on April 8 after two months of being sealed off from the outside world.

How COVID-19 Spreads

COVID-19 is spread between people who are within about 6 feet of each other when an infected person coughs or sneezes. It is also possible for a person to become infected by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or their eyes (but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads).

The World’s Largest Gathering of Smurfs

In the small town of Landerneau in northwestern France, more than 3,500 people in blue body paint crowded together in a parking lot on March 7th to dance in conga lines to disco hits chosen by a Smurf DJ. Although some of the biggest cities in Europe were going on lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the village of Landerneau was hoping to earn a spot in Guinness World Records for “Most people dressed as Smurfs”. And they did!

The event also garnered several comical quotes:

“We must not stop living. It was the chance to say that we are alive.” – the mayor of Landerneau, Patrick Leclerc

“There’s no risk, we’re Smurfs.” – Smurf gathering attendee

Link to video

THE SYMPTOMS

May appear 2-14 days after exposure:

fever
coughing
shortness of breath
tiredness

Emergency warning signs:

Trouble breathing
Persistent pain or pressure in the chest
New confusion or inability to arouse
Bluish lips or face

*This list is not all-inclusive. Please consult your medical provider for any other symptoms that are severe or concerning.

HOW TO PREVENT IT

You can prevent the spread of COVID-19 and stay safe by practicing “The Five”:

Also:

Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. When using hand sanitizer, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol (these kinds kill viruses).
Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
Practice social distancing! You may not be at risk of dying from COVID-19, but other people in your community are!

Image result for netflix

FREE TIME!

Obviously being stuck at home isn’t ideal, but it does free up enough time to finally complete tasks that you’ve been putting off. Read a book, watch a movie, or start a new tv show! The possibilities are as endless as they can be when you’re not allowed to leave the house.

Personally, I’d recommend going outside. Walking long trails, even just going for a lap around your neighbor, is a great way to get out of the house and still be practicing social distancing. And if going outside isn’t for you, then maybe Facetiming your friends might be! If your friends all have iPhones, then you can early have a group FaceTime from your group chat. If not, then apps like Discord and Skype allow you to see and talk to your friends and family from almost any device!

WHO is at risk?

Although everyone of every age is at risk of getting the coronavirus, people ages 65+ and people with pre-existing medical conditions (such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease) appear to be more vulnerable to becoming severely ill with the coronavirus. People with weak immune systems and people who are in close contact with someone with COVID-19 (healthcare workers) are also at risk.

Below is a chart documenting cases from February 12 to March 16 in the US:

COVID-19 in the US

The first case of COVID-19 in the United States was reported on January 21, 2020. As of March 23, there are 44,183 cases throughout the US.

Treating Covid-19

Vaccine – There is currently no vaccine to protect against COVID-19

Testing – Every US state is providing testing for COVID-19

Treatment – There is no specific antiviral treatment for COVID-19. People with COVID-19 can seek medical care to help relieve symptoms.

Image result for hopeful covid-19 graphiffi

WHAT NOW?

As of now, it can appear as though this coronavirus pandemic is neverending. I, however, don’t believe this to be true. People across the world are working hard every day to get the situation under control. Should you be worried? No, just cautious. Take this extra time off to take inventory of your life. What/who have you taken for granted? What can you improve or work on while practicing social distancing? If you’re struggling with isolation and the lack of social interacts, just hang in there and know that this won’t last forever!

Staying safe, stay connected, and stay informed!

Coronavirus 101: What We Do — And Don’t — Know About The Outbreak Of COVID-19

Coronavirus (COVID-19) from CDC

Coronavirus In China: Over 200 Cases, Human-To-Human Transmission

Coronavirus Vaccine for Dogs

French mayor defends Smurf rally

COVID-19 Myths Busted

Mortality Rate

Symptoms

My Strange Interest In Organizing

The following is a list of things I’ve taken a strange interest in recently:

Bullet journaling-

Bullet journaling is a way of journaling that can track your day to day habits and happenings. It’s half organizing/planning and half making an aesthetic journal. As much as I would like to partake in the lifestyle that is bullet journaling, I am not as patient and creative as I would need to be to fill out a whole journal.

So what do I do instead? I watch other people fill them out!

I don’t know what exactly is so entertaining to me about watching people draw lines is journals for hours and hours. I have a hunch that I just watch videos about it because it makes me feel productive watching other people be productive (when in reality I’ve just been laying in my bed doing nothing).

The benefit of this is that it actually has been making me more productive. I guess watching other people work to improve their lives has finally pushed me to start doing it too. Linked above are two of my favorite bullet journaling videos! I highly recommend them for anyone who a) wants to get into bullet journaling, b) wants to get motivated to become more productive and efficient, or c) wants to watch other people be productive for fun!

Cleaning –

I’m going to assume that everyone reading this knows what cleaning is. For me, cleanings can be many things. It can be simply cleaning up a small mess I made or it can be vigorously scrubbing every surface in my room until there isn’t a speck of dust in sight. For me, having a clean area helps me focus and to be more productive. It also just makes me happy knowing that both of dorm room and room at home are neat and tidy at all hours of the day. Thus why most think of cleaning as a chore and I think of it as a hobby of sorts.

Organizing –

A list within a list about things I’ve organized:

my room (home & MSA)
my closest (home & MSA)
my bookshelf (home & MSA)
my backpack
my desk drawers (home & MSA)
my fridge (the inside and the magnets on the outside) (home & MSA)
my sister’s room
my suitemate’s room
my entire house over the course of Christmas Break

I would never call my impulse to organize a problem. Honestly, its more of a fun pastime for me. About a year ago, I discovered the KonMari method and I changed my life (I’m not kidding). Marie Kondo and her Netflix show got me to cut the size of my closest in half and to learn to let go of sentimental things. Watching the show also led me to watch many an organizational video on YouTube. My favorites are linked below:

Makeovers –

I love a good makeover. So far, I’ve only done my own room and dorm room, helped out my sister redo parts of her room, helped my suitemate redecorate their room, and redone the entire downstairs of my house. But I’m hoping to one day have an entire house to myself that I can decorate any way I please. With that said, here are more videos:

Conclusion

There really isn’t much of a point to this blog. I’ve just been really fixated on organization and order these days. If anyone were to get anything out of this, I would want it to be that you can, in fact, make cleaning and organization fun! It’s all about making your space just right for you and optimized to you! And if you’re doing that, then you’re doing just fine.