MY LIFE AMIDST CORONAVIRUS

Ever wonder what it’s like to be on an apocalypse? How would you survive it? Will you
even survive? Few years back all my imagination about unforeseen events really happened
right now. Our country, the Philippines; the world is suffering and affected because of this
plague. The COVID-19 virus. It deeply affects every person on earth, especially the frontliners.
It’s sad because not all of us understand how serious and deadly this virus is, but want to know
what’s worst? The cure. There isn’t.

I just got home from school, turned on the TV then I saw the news about this deadly
virus from Wuhan, China. Like normal people do, I ignored it, I didn’t take it seriously because
why would I worry about that it’s in China, far away from me and from my country. As the day
goes by people become more and more frightened about it, then it hits me. How stupid of me to
think that it won’t spread like wild fire. I saw the news that people started to hoard facemasks
and alcohol. I saw how some people used this as an opportunity to profit from other people’s
weakness. I saw the real nature of most of our fellowmen, I saw what we call “filipino-thinking”.

As for me and my sister, we did what had to be done. We took the virus seriously, we
went to a grocery store to buy food and supplies for two months. I know some people will say
that we are too cautious about this virus but it’s better to be safe than to be sorry. We stayed at
home after that day, we stopped seeing our friends, relatives and our loved ones. As for my
mom who is in another country, she told me some really sad news, she is supposed to come
home for a vacation in April but then all the flight has been banned and there’s nothing she can
do about it. It made me sad that my normal life has been taken away from me because of this
plague.

I tried to be optimistic about this, I started to take this opportunity to spend time with my
sister, my aunts and cousins. It feels great to be with them, lately I’ve been spending time with
my friends and other people, little did I know that I’m also sacrificing my time for my family to do
unimportant things outside my home. I also went back to my old hobby, painting. It brings
pleasure to my heart, it fulfills me as a person, I was so happy when I held the brushes and felt
the texture of the canvas. It made me realize, where was I for the past years? What am I
actually doing during my pastime? Well, books also became a friend of mine, I never knew that
books without pictures are really fun to read; it bores me before maybe I didn’t understand how
books actually work.

Started to think that maybe this is what we really need. Maybe this is a way to know what
is more important and which matters more. Mother Earth has found a way to heal in these
extremely difficult and dangerous times. Our planet has shown us what a difference a lifestyle
change can make in a very short time. We've always wondered if it was too late to tackle climate
change but Mother Earth has shown us that if we all do it together we can fix it and help her
recover.
 Coronavirus may have kept people locked up in their houses, but at this moment, art and
music are what ties people together and keeps them together. Italy has found a new way of
holding the positivity alive. People come out into their balconies, singing and playing
instruments and supporting each other through music strength. The streets may be empty but in
Italy, people's hearts are full of warmth and joy.

The coronavirus pandemic undoubtedly ties the globe together and makes us better
citizens. So find your silver lining in the dark clouds of coronavirus, stay home, spend time with
your kids, learn a new hobby, read a book, and live to the fullest every moment, while letting the
earth recover.