Skip to main content

Pandemic diaries

 When the pandemic hit and we were forced into a lockdown , the anxiety and stress levels were extremely high given the fact that my husband and I are both healthcare professionals. 

We have three children; I had been working part time until then but decided to quit my job altogether not knowing what was ahead of us. It then meant lots of free time at hand; I am not much into cooking, sewing, gardening and I had to find something to keep my mind occupied.

During the lockdown, we were allowed to walk outside, of course observing social  distancing. Up until this time, I was not much into any type of exercising . Hence, decided to challenge myself with walking, with a daily goal of 10,000 steps. The Samsung health app was already on my phone but had never paid much attention to it until now. I started walking in our neighborhood, in and around where we live. The first week was very rough, panting, knees hurting, barely making it to  even my halfway mark. But then, magic happened on day 6 of my challenge.

  I am not a professional photographer but I love to take pictures of anything and everything, especially of  flora and fauna. 

On day 6 of my challenge, I posted a picture of a flower on Facebook. The amount of response I got to that post was overwhelming. 

At that point, the entire world was suffering, chaotic times for all of us. And then it suddenly dawned on me, I could motivate myself by challenging myself with flower pictures, I could combine my love for photography, flowers and add walking to the mix. I was in my element whenever I was walking outside, enjoying the natural beauty.

 The daily walks didn't have to be boring, there was abundance of beauty around me, I just had to look; and I could share my solace, joy and happiness with my friends and family. 

They say it takes 21 days , to either form a new or break an old habit. By day 21, I was  not only walking 10,000 steps  and meeting my daily goal but actually enjoying walking.

 Since my children were at home, their school being online, they were joining me once or twice a week. Soon we had started walking as a family, the first 3 months of lockdown, we were pretty isolated, I was walking either by myself or the family and only explored our neighborhood, streets around us.

 But as the restrictions eased, we explored many different hikes and trails around us and within our state. My husband after working 10-12 hours of  shifts, had also started looking forward to our daily escapades. Days turned into months, seasons changed but I kept going. 

There were times when it was raining, temperatures above a 100 deg F and when it snowed in the winter but I kept at it. If not outside, I was walking in the house simply driven to see the green check mark on the steps app. 

 In conclusion, in the midst of chaos, daily walking and posting flower photographs had saved my sanity. It brought me the peace and as we say in my native tongue," the sukoon" I desired. 

Now I found myself telling others the benefits of walking and how I had overcome my obstacles. What began as a mundane chore had evolved into something beautiful, I had a whole album of all kinds of flowers, pictures of nature from  around my neighborhood, the town and our state. 

My daily walks  and sharing the natural beauty around me became my cherished ritual, one that brought me enormous happiness and gave me a purpose. It  helped me connect with the nature as well as strengthened our bond as a family. That's my pandemic success story, my pandemic ramblings. Do you have a story?? How did you keep yourself occupied?? What did you do for your mental health ?? If you are reading this, please let me know in the comments .


                                  Here is a picture of us as a family.    

                                             

Here are pictures of me walking through the different seasons. 

                                                                                                                                                


 




P.S. Now I have started going to the gym but I miss walking outside. 


                  















Labels:

Comments

Rekha's Ramblings said…
Thank you so much for your kind words of appreciation. They mean a lot Alisa.
June 6, 2024 at 1:22 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My self care journey - Oxygen mask.

  “ In the event of a sudden drop in pressure, an oxygen mask will drop from above. Secure your own mask first before assisting others. ” The first time I heard this, I was flying for the first time in my life on an international flight from Mumbai to Atlanta via London. I was so excited to go to America on my own that I did not really pay that much attention to this routine preflight announcement. Since I had flown to America, it also meant flying back, again, several times to go home. I heard the same announcement during all those trips but at that point, they were still some words, their true meaning still had not registered.  Then came another first time of my life, this time it was flying with my first born, for the first time.  By this time, I was not as excited about flying, the novelty had completely worn off. Now I am only concerned about the safety of my baby, he is sitting in my lap, one year old. Then they make the above preflight announcement, in sever...
8 comments
Read more

Journey as a mom driver.

Several years ago, when my parents were visiting, I took them to church for Easter Sunday mass. It was the first time I had driven since becoming a mother… for the second time around. This time, I had “twins.” They were less than two months old. I hadn’t driven in several months. I thought I could use the break from taking care of them. The church was not too far, I would be gone for at the most an hour and a half. Little did I know that it would be a defining moment in my journey as a mother. While at church, I just could not focus, they were at home with their father, they were safe, but that was the first time I had left them at home and gone somewhere. We ended up leaving before the final hymn. I was in a hurry to get home, only a few minutes from home. Sleep-deprived and anxious, I ran a red light. That split-second decision cost me more than I can explain. By the time a police officer got there  and approached the car, I had had a complete meltdown, bawling at the s...
13 comments
Read more

Legacy of Journaling!

  Writing has always had a special place in my heart and its roots go way back to my childhood, to my father, my inspiration.  My father has kept a journal, a daily diary since he was, I believe 20 years old, sort of chronicles, at first of his life and then our lives. He would write down all he did every day and along with that, he would also write down community happenings, a little note of news, local, nationwide and or global events which occurred on that day.  He has a record of everything and anything that happened in our tiny community where I grew up and where record keeping was almost nonexistent. A tiny catholic rural community in India. He meticulously noted birthdays, anniversaries, and even deaths, along with details of dignitaries, clergy coming and going. He was a walking encyclopedia of our community's history.  He is well known in the community partly for that reason, as a historian, their source of information. They come looking for him when they ne...
12 comments
Read more