TL;DR:
- The mixed emotions with coping during quarantine.
- Rediscovering the “commonplace” with a new view.
The truth is, an underlying anxiety has punctuated even my most positive experiences during this quarantine. A quarantine which may, in fact, still be happening by the time you read this. And though it hasn’t been all bad, I (paradoxically) sometimes feel guilty for enjoying the good times a little too much.
The whiplash of conflicting emotions continues to rattle around in my mind and heart, making me unsure of how to approach what I’m thinking and deal with what I’m feeling.
Much like I said in my last quarantine post, it’s exhausting.
And when we’re stuck in our houses and some of the only exercise we get is to follow yoga videos in our living room or take short walks around our neighborhood, one of the challenges becomes how not to grow bored with our surroundings–especially when we are stuck in the same place every day.
In keeping with a recent blog post I wrote on my own site about how to make the familiar seem new, I recently took one of those aforementioned walks around my neighborhood. But this time I approached it differently.
It's not really about what gear you have, but how you see the world that matters. Click To TweetTaking time to appreciate the scenery.
Just before the world shut down, I had rekindled a lifelong interest in photography. And though my shutter release button had sat inactive for weeks during our time stuck at home, I thought about grabbing my camera bag and going outside, just to see what happened.
So on this particular walk, I took along my camera.
The goal wasn’t to take great pictures, but to be in the moment.
To see old things in a new way.
To notice what I noticed.
To appreciate what was.
Sometimes I asked myself, what happens if I look up from a low angle?
What happens if I come in from the other side?
What happens if I look down?
What happens if I stop and wait until things change enough for me to get an interesting picture?
There was no time deadline.
No rush.
Just me and a sunny day and a camera.
Finding a new world is all about perspective.
As it turned out, I was able to make new and mindful and engaging choices to experience a world that, presumably, I’d seen a flippity jillion times.
The interesting thing is that, these days, we all have cameras in our pockets or purses.
What if you took a walk around your neighborhood, looked at it in a fresh way, and documented some of what you saw?
My entire experience–some of the results of which you can see at the top of this post–took place only two or three blocks from my house.
I’ve lived here for 16 years and, I mean, who even knew about that cute little lizard?
The great thing is that we can do this all the time, even after the quarantine has been lifted. In fact, some of you may already be there by the time you read this.
For an advanced challenge—you may want to do some stretching or Pilates or eat a bowl of Wheaties or something before attempting this–what if you did the same photo challenge INSIDE your house?
In a single room?
In your driveway?
In your backyard?
The possibilities, as the informercials say, are endless.
Challenge yourself to see your world differently.
One thing I’ve learned about photography, and it turns out it applies to life as well (who knew?), is that it’s not really about what gear you have, but how you see the world that matters.
So you think you’ve seen your world and you know everything there is to know about it?
Think again.
Feel free to do the same and share your results with me, either here in the comments, on Twitter, or via email. I’d love to hear about your experience and see what you come up with.
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ABOUT DAN TRICARICO
Dan Tricarico has been a high school English teacher for nearly thirty years. He is also the author of The Zen Teacher: Creating Focus, Simplicity, and Tranquility in the Classroom (DBC, Inc. 2015) and Sanctuaries: Self-Care Secrets for Stressed Out Teachers (DBC, Inc. 2018). In his spare time, he enjoys writing, listening to music, reading mystery novels, watching movies, and staring out of windows. One of his first loves is writing poetry, and he has published many poems both in print and on-line.
