In just a matter of two weeks, our world changed.
- Teachers reconfigured their courses for online delivery.
- Students left classrooms and dorm rooms.
- Church services came to us through video.
- Zoom powered much of the world’s business.
- Curbside pickup became our new go-to.
- Predictability transitioned to a foreign concept.
In this upside-down period we are living through, people continue to reach out to others via Facebook, Instagram, group FaceTime—even sidewalk chalk messages and stuffed bears propped in windows. We can’t forget the video of Italians singing to each other from their individual balconies. While so much about the virus is uncertain, what we can rely on is the strength of human interaction. The quarantine prohibits face-to-face communication, but we are creatively resourceful in finding ways to stay connected.
Here are some of our ideas:
- Send uplifting text messages to family and friends. A quote a day keeps the loneliness away!
- Put a homemade sign in your windows or yard, letting people know you are thinking of them.
- Create a virtual book club—knitting club—or even watch a movie “together” online.
- Set up a group Facetime with friends or family to cook together or play a board game.
- There’s always Animal Crossing and the chat feature!
Don’t forget about snail mail! Remember the excitement of getting a letter or a card when you opened the mailbox? In addition to writing to those you know, why not join in on Waynesburg University’s Community Service Project by sending a letter through the Adopt A Grandparent program? Adopt A Grandparent encourages letters sent to those in assisted living facilities to help combat loneliness due to limited or zero visitation. By engaging in Waynesburg University’s mission of service, we can uplift spirits right here within Greene County! These sites have agreed to share your letters of hope with their residents and patients:
Braun's Personal Care Home
324 S. Washington Street
Waynesburg, PA. 15370
Attention: To a Patient
Assisted Living at Evergreen
25 Glade Ave.
Waynesburg, PA. 15370
Attention: Jackie Hainer
Lasosky's Personal Care Home
23 Main St.
Clarksville, PA. 15322
Attention: To a Patient
Haney's Personal Care Home
330 Carmichaels St.
Rices Landing, PA. 15357
Attention: To a Patient
Of course, from the Writing Center perspective, we can’t ignore the cathartic power of writing.
Now is a good time to record your thoughts about the Covid-19 experience. Getting our thoughts down on paper helps us to see situations from different angles. Plus, you might want to tell your children and grandchildren about the way you spent Quarantine 2020.
Another idea is to keep a gratitude journal. Scientific research indicates that jotting down just three things for which we are grateful daily can change the level of dopamine in our brains, which can calm anxiety.
If you are a creative writer, take a look at Poets and Writers’ daily prompts that can be found on Instagram, Facebook, and the journal’s website (https://www.pw.org/writing-prompts-exercises) Poets and Writers publishes a poetry prompt every Tuesday, a fiction prompt every Wednesday, and a creative nonfiction prompt on Thursdays. Just for inspiration, here’s an idea from early April: “Think of a place—a region, country, specific city, or remote locale that you find evocative—and take a voyage using Street View on Google Maps, which collects panoramic images from Google Street View car cameras and individual contributors. Explore the architecture, local flora and fauna, and any people who were caught on camera. Write [about]… the images you see, and let your imagination fill in other sensory details and observations.”
Ponder the found moments each day—the cardinal on your windowsill, the daffodils blooming defiantly, the newly-minted connections we can make with ourselves and others.
