COVID-19, aka the coronavirus pandemic, shook the world (and is still shaking up some parts of our planet) and lifestyles were impacted. Social-distancing was urged, making human physical interaction a seemingly taboo thing to do. For someone like me that strives on being able to be affectionate (love hugs and interacting with my people) this was so weird to experience. It made me feel awkward to see and talk to people, only because I felt like I couldn’t do what came naturally to me: to share my love with a big ol’ hug. One thing that helped me fill this void of missing my social interactions was focusing on fashion, and seizing the day to the best of my ability.
Aruba had a Shelter-in-Place Order and Nightly Curfew established – almost immediately – after identifying its first Coronavirus patient on March 13th, 2020. The Shelter-in-Place Order was abolished on Monday, May 18th – meaning it had been about two months that the whole island was homebound.
For these two months I mainly spent time with my live-in BF (hehe), and visiting my mom at her nature-surrounded casa.
Shelter-in-Style Photo Reel
I would spend much of my morning time visiting my mom to help her with her gardening projects and joining workout walks alongside Aruba’s coastlines. This worked out well as good bronzing sessions, giving me back my much-loved natural tan, and a boost of physical activity to help with the endorphins. My mom was also working on finalising her thesis for her Educational Needs M.A., and asked me if I could help her design an eBook to compliment this, so I did.
It’s safe to say that wine was the favoured beverage of choice, aside from water and coffee, during the Shelter-in-Place. My BF and I went through our “stock of stay-at-home wine” within the first week and had to restock more realistically after that. He bought this cute little barbecue grill right before lockdown, and my goodness did we have a ridiculous amount of BBQs. I mean I loved it, but 10+ BBQs in one month is A LOT. We would grill everything from veggie burgers, to fish, to shrimp skewers, to veggies (lots and lots of veggies), to smores, and even sandwiches. Haha.
Shelter-in-Style Photo Reel
The love for enjoying a BBQ in the garden was most probably to blame at the fact that we spruced up the yard with some DIY landscaping and pallet furniture projects. This made for a much more pleasant vibe to chill in the backyard. Before this there was practically nothing on the grounds, just some stand-alone trees and an isolated glass-top table.
Aside from a heavyload of BBQs and gardening, my Shelter-in-Place “lifestyle” included the following activities: lots of fun and yummy home cooking, documenting life, watching movies, taking dips in the ocean, chasing sunrises and catching sunsets, enjoying wine, couch chillin’ like a villain, color-coordinating my closet, reorganising my shoe storage, planting seeds (and seeing them grow! – a first for me), digging for rocks (LOL), occasional takeout indulging, working on MEANRO.com, working on my own freelancing career, designing my mom’s eBook, reading, researching, listening to music, having meaningful conversations, dancing, playing random games, and lots of reflecting.
I definitely had some bad/sad days, or moments, during this period, but would always try and focus on the more positive aspects. Gratitude, reminding myself of all of the love in my life, and focusing on the beautiful things in the world, helped me get through with a happier mindset.
How was your COVID-19 pandemic experience?
