By Bryana Medina, Staff Reporter
Being a senior in college and having to deal with a pandemic can mess with your mentality easily. But instead of thinking the worst, I sat back and thought about the positives that I gained with all the restrictions and guidelines we have to abide by. I began to learn new things about myself every day and it led me to find new hobbies to help with my anxiety of being quarantined.
Before COVID-19 hit, I had planned on doing so many amazing things with my life and having an internship ready for my last semester of college. I was working towards my career and being happy with the person I was becoming. Even though I knew I wasn’t the only person going through this, my mind was still everywhere. I would tell myself, “What’s the next step?” “Are you going to have your dream job?” “Is everything you worked for going down the drain?” I could not seem to shake these feelings off.
Then businesses started crashing, and my chances of getting internships and having access to school resources were limited.
When school went virtual, it was a major shock. Not only am I dealing with my mental, emotional, and physical state of being in the house and not being able to have a social life, not being at school with face-to-face interaction made it worse.
When I was feeling hopeless and dealing with the pressure and anxiety of not knowing where my life was going to take me, I started trying three new things to keep myself motivated.
Listening to Music
Music heals me and makes me feel like I can overcome the impossible. Whenever I tend to feel overwhelmed, I usually listen to Brent Fiyaz, Summer Walker, and Jhené Aiko because their style of music calms me down. One thing I love about Aiko’s music is that she uses sound bowls in her music, which helps me with anxiety and stress.
One song that really connects to me is her song “Triggered.” The song is about a moment of frustration and Aiko’s personal emotional triggers. I can relate to her because I’m an overthinker and once I let my emotions take over me, I tend to say whatever comes to mind and do things that I should not be doing. But when I listen to this song, I am able to sit and reflect on my feelings and really focus on healing and letting the stress go.
Healing my Anxiety with Crystals
For me, crystals symbolize peace, healing, and help me with my mental state. I suffer from anxiety and they taught me how to control what I’m feeling and how to handle what I’m feeling at hand.
With the pandemic, it’s really easy for me to get in the wrong mindset. An anxiety attack for me feels like my body is getting numb and I start to sweat. Anxiety attacks are of course different for everybody but it is very important to know what triggers your anxiety. Crystals helped me with calming down a lot.
My favorite crystal is Sodalite. This crystal is often referred to as “the stone of peace.” It gives me a sense of security, helps put my mind at ease, and calm my panic attacks. I always carry it with me, and every time I’m feeling uncomfortable, I tend to just feel that positive energy that it’s giving me.
Interior Design
Interior design has always been a big passion of mine. With all this time we have, I spend hours on vision boards and what I want my next project to be. I get inspiration from the TV shows in HGTV.com. I like things that look aesthetically pleasing and interior designing really brings out the creative side of me.
When designing a home or a bedroom, you have to be sure that you are incorporating your personality. If you’re a fun colorful person, your bedroom may be full of color and bright. If you’re a person who is very calm, then your bedroom may be very simple and plain. As for me, I’m a very simple person, I don’t like loud colors. I like the colors white, black, and nudes. Interior design has always been an escape to me. I decorate for fun and hope to take it to another level after college.
Interior design has always been an escape to me. During quarantine, it gave me time to focus on this hobby and I hope to take it to another level after college by owning my own interior design company.
The pandemic hit us all in different ways. I can’t remember how my life was like a year ago. Adjusting to this new lifestyle can be dangerous if you are not willing to grow. I was able to get to know myself better and connect with myself and learn how to deal with whatever is being thrown my way. The pandemic will not break me. I’m doing okay, I’m figuring it out as I go and will carry that with me for the rest of my life. This taught me that there is nothing I can’t handle.
