Learning to Appreciate What We’ve Lost

How the COVID-19 pandemic has affected every aspect of my life.

Photo by Josh Hild on Unsplash

Attending SMU is the best of both worlds. It provides me with academic challenges and opportunities, enlightening me in the literary world, and fuels my intellectual curiosity. SMU has also brought me close to people, friends, and relationships on campus and in Dallas, as well as with alumni. There is always something to do on and off-campus, whether it is socially or academically. The pandemic has turned this world, and the life before the outbreak, upside-down. Often it feels as if things will never return to normal.

Shelter-in-place and stay-at-home orders have legally limited socializing, which eliminates the ability to see friends and extended family. The quickly increasing number of coronavirus cases has forced SMU and all schools to be online. Daily lifestyle habits such as going to the grocery store, going to the gas station, and picking up essentials and medicine from the pharmacy, have all been drastically altered. These are all ways in which my life has changed but also allowed me and my family to appreciate the things we were once able to do and to look ahead to the future, feeling blessed and excited to return to normal life.

For spring break, I returned home to Palm Beach, Florida. Palm Beach Island, also called the Town of Palm Beach, issued the State of Emergency on March 9, 2020. Regulations include a daily curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 p.m., the closing of all public beaches, and alternative rules for those who walk or bike on the Lake Trail. While they publicly stated only public beaches were closed, private ones have been taped off and prohibited as well. On March 13, 2020, the government of Palm Beach County issued an official state of emergency.

I’ve now been back for nearly two months, living in my parents’ home, while also doing online classes and studying. I’ve found the first problem, which has majorly affected my life, is the motivation aspect. Living at home seems more luxurious and flexible, and while it is, it has changed my ability to focus and be productive. I’ve lost the routine that I found in Dallas. There is an interesting contradiction in this, for which every day seems the same in self-isolation, but it has been increasingly hard to find a stable routine in my daily life. School is easier to put off and get away with, but it also has taught me that I often put too much unnecessary pressure on myself. I have struggled to find a single answer, and I will use this imbalance and contemplation in the future to organize priorities and health when I return to in-person classes.

Another part of living at home during the pandemic is the lack of social life. I turned 21 recently, just two months ago on March 1. I was lucky enough to be able to celebrate before the virus shut down the country. Most college students are facing similar feelings of missing socializing regularly. I went to boarding school at 14 years old. I lived in a dorm with a curfew and was under tight watch of dorm parents and school administration. Life in the pandemic feels very similar. It feels unnatural to be launched back into time with little to no freedom. But the new regulations are entirely necessary for the island, county, country, and most of the world. On April 29, Palm Beach opened the parks, golf, and tennis courses, allowing residents to return to regular outdoor activities. Several members of the county parks department have said that this is beneficial to the mental and physical health of Palm Beach County residents.

The recent academic and social changes of daily life have brought me to appreciate that which I once didn’t. I’ve learned that routine is critical to my mental, emotional, and physical well-being. The American Psychological Association‘s article from March 2019, discusses the risks of self-isolation, including chronic loneliness, leading to depression, sleeping issues, and physical health problems such as heart and musculature diseases.

Being stuck inside is problematic for me, as someone who is highly individual, and fails to stay in one place for an extended amount of time. I’ve learned that I need routine, but that I also need to learn how to balance and stabilize different aspects of my life. Ultimately, the pandemic and stay-at-home orders have transported me back to a time when I would spend days and hours at home with my parents.

Below is a series of photos that visually documents the reality of my new normal in Palm Beach.

People bike and walk along North Ocean Boulevard in the Town of Palm Beach while abiding by social distancing guidelines (SMU/Rebecca Levenson).

An electronic sign reads “curfew in effect” as residents cross the bridge onto Palm Beach Island. The curfew has been in effect for almost six weeks as it began on March 17, 2020 (SMU/Rebecca Levenson).

The same electronic sign reads “9 PM to 6 AM” to enforce the curfew on Palm Beach Island as a way to maintain quarantining and social distancing guidelines to help flatten the curve (SMU/Rebecca Levenson).

The Town of Palm Beach continues with construction amidst the pandemic, though large trucks look out of place in between Palm Beach Country Club and the ocean (SMU/Rebecca Levenson).

My daily life in quarantine usually takes place outside in my backyard. Pictured is where I sit for Zoom calls, and where I play games like Scrabble and Yahtzee after class. In the frame are a beautiful white orchid, the pool house that my dad uses as his office, and the pool, on a perfect day without a cloud in sight (SMU/Rebecca Levenson).

In order to get out of the house and still abide by all guidelines for social distancing and self-isolation, I drive to the end of Palm Beach Island. Pictured is the very end of the island which is marked by strict parking rules and now, police tape to prevent people from going on the docks (SMU/Rebecca Levenson).

The end of my street on Palm Beach Island is marked off by police tape that reads “police line do not cross” to prevent people from going on the beach. Although only publicly announced that public beaches are closed, authorities and police have closed off all private beaches as well (SMU/Rebecca Levenson).