dailygaelley

Hello, again, from your favorite elusive blogger. I know it has been quite a while since I posted a personal blog post. The last year has been.. a lot and very underwhelming all at the same time. The year ended with me working (voluntarily!!) on both holidays. To be honest, it wasn’t really all that bad. The year began with a lot of hope for a vaccine for the pandemic that’s been with us since the year prior and it did work out. The first and second doses were administered and people got boosted, too. 2021 ended with a couple of new strains of the virus, obliterating any hope for anyone being rid of Covid-19 any time soon.

As I reflected on the last 3 years, I realized that the people who said that the virus was here to stay were right; we just need to learn to live with it. However, with the holidays came the family gatherings and parties that brought about another surge in the virus. I now feel so naked without a mask on and my over-the-top hand hygiene has gotten way worse. I’ve found that I loved the scent of isopropyl alcohol. If I touch anything from the outside, I make sure to douse my hands in alcohol and then use alcohol wipes to clean them again. My hands are so dry, you have no idea.

But with the insane amount of being careful comes the longing of being free to be out and careless again. I have planned so many trips in my head and so far, only two trips successfully happened. The feeling of being outside in nature and breathing in the air also comes with the crippling paranoia you feel once you’re back home. It’s not a good feeling. My parents have since bought antigen tests to test us whenever anyone feels any slight symptoms.

Friends and relatives who visit us at home have to test beforehand and while some may say it’s over-the-top and overdramatic, it’s what’s kept us relatively healthy. We experienced COVID firsthand in June of 2021 and we are not going to risk going through that again.

I long for the time when we can freely talk and meet with people without masks. My sister and I like watching old videos of family and friends and seeing us interact and go out without masks seems unsettling. It’s weird because it’s become a habit; I even wear masks just to go get deliveries even if I’m inside our gate.

So, my question is: is it truly a flashback of what 2020 was? Will all the progress that happened in 2021 be for nothing because of how fast the virus mutates? Or will we be able to adapt to it? Who knows, right?

I’ll try to post a lot more in the coming months. I’ll also try to update my blog a little bit more. I’ve been posting a bit more on Instagram but my Facebook page and blog is pretty empty. We’ll see.