Positives of my current situation

I’m currently at home with my family, doing classes online. While there are some things I don’t like about this current situation (I miss my friends, my family can be a lot, the news is sad, etc.), there are actually a lot of genuine benefits, too. 🙂

• I get to be home during springtime!!! I love spring. (could you tell from my username? lol) It is my favorite season. I go to school in an urban area, and my family’s home is in a more rural area. I haven’t been home during spring for 3 years, and it’s really nice to be here again and to get to watch all the flowers come up. The air smells so good. There’s so much nature here, and I get to watch it all unfold from the earth.

  

  Blue hyacinths

  

  Glory-of-the-snow

• I get to spend time with my sister. She is in middle school (a fair bit younger than me), and I was sad when I went to college because I knew I’d miss out on watching her grow up. Now I get to spend time with her every day, in person, for several months. 🙂
• I can compare being home now to the times I’ve been home in the past and see how much progress I’ve made. I expected coming home this time to be a struggle, as is usually is. And it has been hard at times. But overall, it’s been a lot better than it’s been in the past. We’ve had several family dinners that didn’t end in arguments! This is pretty amazing to me. From what I can remember, we’ve rarely eaten dinner together in the past few years, let alone eaten it together peacefully and made pleasant conversation. My communication with my mom is also so much better than it’s been in the past. We talk about stuff, I tell her things, and neither of us gets upset! We talk through our conflicts. It’s amazing.
• I don’t have to walk to class. Walking to class was getting to be pretty painful because of joint pain. Now I get to skip all that. 🙂 I also don’t have to go outside when it’s rainy, windy, or cold. I can even wrap myself up in a blanket during class.
• People are making an effort to reach out and stay connected with others. In the past when I’ve been home on a break, I wanted to stay in touch with my friends, but they didn’t seem to want to stay in touch with me as much. Now everyone seems to be making a real effort to stay connected. I’m facetiming, zooming, and texting my friends regularly. It’s not just me reaching out to people and not hearing anything back; people are replying, and some people are reaching out to me first!
• I kind of got a job because of the coronavirus crisis?! I’m studying mechanical engineering, people need ventilators, and mechanical engineers have a lot of the skills required to design and make ventilators… someone asked me to join their team making a new ventilator, so, that’s what I’ll (hopefully) be doing soon and continuing this summer! 😮 It’s really nice to feel needed for the actual things that I have invested in studying in school. It makes me feel good about my choice of major, and I’m proud to be studying this and to be able to help. It also gives me a very tangible reason to do my homework and stay motivated!

Are there any positives in your current situation?

The beach

Warm sand that sinks with each step

Squinting in the sun

Smiling in the sun

Wind blowing my hair over my shoulders

Stray hairs across my face

Walking forward against the force of the wind

Sand gradually feels cooler, wetter, denser

A surprise wave laps my toes

Cool clear water

Step forward, cool up to my calves

Little butterfly shells

In purple and orange pastels

Disappear and reappear

As the wave ebbs and flows

White foam comes and disappears

Woosh in, wishh out

Stretching out

To the horizon

We’re here on the edge

Of an immense ocean

And I get to feel the water

And the wind

Encouraging song lyrics

I love these songs, “There is Life” and “You’ll Be in My Heart,” and their lyrics. I listen to them and think about their lyrics when I’m in need of comfort or hope.

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“There is Life”

by Alison Krauss from the “Bambi II” soundtrack; listen to it here 
lyrics from https://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/bambi/thereislife.htm

Under the snow
Beneath the frozen streams
There is life
You’ll have to know
When nature sleeps she dreams
There is life
And the colder the winter
The warmer the spring
The deeper the sorrow
The more our hearts sing
Even when you can’t see it
Inside everything
There is life
 
After the rain
The sun will reappear
There is life
After the pain
The joy will still be here
There is life
For it’s out of the darkness
That we learn to see
And out of the silence
That songs come to be
And all that we dream of
Awaits patently
There is life
There is life

Photo by Akil Mazumder on Pexels.com

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“You’ll Be in My Heart”

by Phil Collins from the “Tarzan” soundtrack; listen to it here
lyrics from https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/philcollins/youllbeinmyheart.html

Come stop your crying
It will be alright
Just take my hand
Hold it tight

I will protect you
From all around you
I will be here
Don’t you cry

For one so small,
You seem so strong
My arms will hold you,
Keep you safe and warm

This bond between us
Can’t be broken
I will be here
Don’t you cry

‘Cause you’ll be in my heart
Yes, you’ll be in my heart
From this day on
Now and forever more

You’ll be in my heart
No matter what they say
You’ll be here in my heart always

Why can’t they understand the way we feel?
They just don’t trust what they can’t explain
I know we’re different but deep inside us
We’re not that different at all

And you’ll be in my heart
Yes, you’ll be in my heart
From this day on
Now and forever more

Don’t listen to them
‘Cause what do they know (what do they know)?
We need each other
To have, to hold.
They’ll see in time
I know

When destiny calls you
You must be strong (you gotta be strong)
I may not be with you
But you’ve got to hold on
They’ll see in time
I know
We’ll show them together

‘Cause you’ll be in my heart
Believe me, you’ll be in my heart
I’ll be there from this day on,
Now and forever more

Oh, you’ll be in my heart (you’ll be here in my heart)
No matter what they say (I’ll be with you)
You’ll be here in my heart (I’ll be there) always

Always
I’ll be with you
I’ll be there for you always
Always and always
Just look over your shoulder
Just look over your shoulder
Just look over your shoulder
I’ll be there always.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

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Do you have a favorite song you listen to when you need some comfort?

Hope

I wake up slowly to the sun streaming through the windows. My body is still, and my heart is calm. I stretch out in bed and smile at the wonderful dream I had. I am excited to start this day. I stand up and methodically make my bed. It’s all closed up and put away. I open the windows and reach out my hand to feel the warmth. The birds are chirping good morning to me and to each other. Each tree rustles as a soft breeze passes through. Fresh, lime green leaves stand out in front of a pure blue sky. My geranium has a new delicate pink bloom. Everything is going to be okay.