Love in the Time of Corona

I don't know what I'm trying to write.

Nothing I could ever write would heal this kind of hurt. And yet here I am trying to make some sense of it all. Or maybe not make sense of it, just... I dunno. Throw my thoughts into the void.

Everything has happened so fast. Two weeks ago, we all happily left for spring break without a care in the world. Some of us came prepared for the worst, others did not. I have attempted to take every step with grace, but have not been so successful. First, the rumors. Then memes, warnings, emails followed. News headlines flashing COVID-19, Coronavirus, Global Pandemic. It just doesn't go away. Hasn't gone away. Week two in self-quarantine trying to keep clean, trying to keep sane, trying to make the aches of missing you all go away.

I think I told myself to write this as an attempt to journal my way through the outbreak. People kept journals during the World Wars, during the Great Depression, during the Spanish Influenza—why should this be any different? Our world is at war with a virus we don't yet know how to beat. It's perhaps our scariest enemy yet. And while I don't think it productive to fall into a complete state of panic, people need to do better. Wash your hands. Stay home. Practice social distancing. Remain six feet apart. Don't hoard supplies. Be a decent fucking human being. We are all hurting. We are all scared. At least be kind.

Things are scary right now. They are. Between trying to navigate the transition to online classes, to figuring out where I was gonna live, to making sure my parents were safe, to scrubbing my hands raw, to battling with loneliness in isolation, to wondering what I'm gonna do when my medication runs out, to attempting to function at all like a regular human being... It just... It's a lot. I've been fortunate enough to be able to stay with Linnea's family in MA for the time being. YD is doing the same with a friend from RISD. Javi and Mami are stuck in the DR apartment. My dad is in VT working the frontlines every day as a retail employee at a pharmacy. Talk about modern-day soldiers.

There has been so much uncertainty and so much distress on all fronts. So much is out of our control. I've tried focusing on the little tiny baby things I do have control over (like eating and sleeping, showering and brushing my teeth, going for a walk or at least looking out the window) and yet I still can't seem to do them all enough. Evan's been pushing me to stay on top of it. Linnea's been trying to keep me sane. Vassar students everywhere are scrambling—for their belongings, their GPAs, their friends, their canceled graduations. Professors and administration can barely keep up with the ever-changing news. Entire states are being shut down left and right. Outside feels like a ghost town. Still, the only way out is through.

When things are scary and frightening and uneasy and unknown, I find it comforting to revel in the small things. Like raspberry jam on toast. And crossword puzzles. A weighted blanket for bed. Hamster feet. Hugs of every kind. Facetime. Fun-filled pasta. Rediscovering club penguin. Cooking dinner together. Puppy licks. Disney movies. Children's books. A hot shower. Solitude at 3am. Plants that continue to grow despite it all. I am so lucky to be cared for and healthy and safe. Not everyone can say the same.

Please be kind to yourselves and each other. The world has needed tenderness for some time now. Give it to her.

Hasta la próxima,

Much love xoxo

Maya 

A Peek Inside the Good & the Bad

Dearest friends,

Just a peer inside at what it looks like to text me while I'm in crisis *insert upside-down smiley face* Many thanks to Evan and Linnea (who I owe my life to twelve times over). Also if you are easily triggered by a distressing stream of texts, you probably shouldn't read this right now. I mainly jotted this down for my own healing. Please take care of yourselves in these unstable times.

...

Hey
Um
So
V strongly dissociating rn
I'm okay
And safe
But I'm trying not to throw up and I feel like an alien
A close family friend of mine just passed away this morning in DR from COVID-19
I just found out like twenty minutes ago
I'm not physically able to cry
That's all
I'm sorry
...
Evan I wanna throw up
Sorry
That's gross
...
I wish you were here
...
It's like stuck
I mean
There's nothing to throw up
Linnea made me breakfast and I couldn't eat it
I had like half a slice of an English muffin
I'm so nauseous
...
Also I have this nagging feeling that I'm disappointing you
...
No but like
I
It's dumb
I know it is
But I can't
I can't shake the feeling
Fuck I'm sorry
...
I mean the food thing, and the sleep thing, and the general taking care of myself thing I just like
Wanna be better automatically
...
I know but I feel like my baby steps aren't fast enough and you and other people will be disappointed
And like it's embarrassing that I'm not better at it already
Cuz I am an adult and I should know how to do these things
...
I feel like there's a rock in my throat
...
I want you to be here so we can blow out our birthday candles
...
I'm okay I'm okay I'm okay
...
I'm trying
It feels like there's
Like there's
Um
Ropes?
...
Ropes on my ribs
It's too slow
It's going too slow
...
Breathing
Heart rate
It's slow
I'm gonna die if it's too slow
...
I'm okay I'm okay I'm okay
My ribs feel on fire
...
Gross
...
I'm sure your grandkids will think it's funny tho and call you a gorilla
Or a monkey man
Tarzan
...
Fuck what do sharp chest pains mean
...
Cool
...
Cool cool cool
...
My ribs won't expand all the way
Why is this scary
I'm sorry
...
Am I making all of this up
Wait
I
...
It feels like
Like
Like I'm not me
Like I'm someone else
This is all happening to someone else
...
I talk to her tomorrow
...
Mhmm
...
But I'm okay
...
I'm just
Sleepy probably
...
Mhmm
...
What do I tell my professor?
I mean I don't really care honestly
...
It's
...
I feel drunkish
Like I'm okay
Just
Woozy
...
Barbara
...
Uh huh
Yeah
...
Weird sentences one after the other but I love you too
Like lots
...
False
But thank you
...
Rude
I love you a lot
I'm so sorry I'm so mean to you all the time
I never mean it
You're my best person
You're a good person
That
I'm
Tired
Barbara then sleep maybe
I'm sorry
...
Do you hate me?
...
Thanks cool
You're a good Watson.

...

To all my friends who have ever helped me through a crisis—I cannot thank you enough. You have saved my life more times than I can count. I love you I love you I love you <3

To Jenny, who spiced up the world with her kindness, her bravery, her art—Ya te extraño.

Hasta la próxima,

Much love xoxo

Maya

Existential & Twenty

Hello, my dears. I am feeling a bit sleepy so I'll try to keep this short.

On Friday, yours truly turned twenty years old. Two zero. Absurd, if you ask me.

Of course, I had all sorts of trepidations about leaving my teen years and no matter how much Evan tried to console me by saying it's just another number and it doesn't even matter what age I am so long as I stay myself, I had doubts. It's only been like three days and surely I feel just the same except for the fact that I don't qualify as a teenager anymore. Which means I'm not a child. Which means I'm an adult. And I kind of hate that.

When you're an adult, people start to expect things from you. How to behave, how to talk, how to dress. Manners, diligence, resourcefulness. Children look up to you. You accumulate responsibilities. And you're expected to do all this knowingly without a moment's notice. Now, of course I know most adults do not, in fact, have their shit together and tend to scramble and make mistakes and flounder and ask for help and make more mistakes and fail over and over again. That all just seems a bit scary to me.

I know more adult-y adults will always be around to help but what if you don't even know where to begin? Surely every other twenty-year-old on the planet felt more capable than I when their birthdays came about. Am I the only one who spent an inordinate amount of time mourning their adolescence? Is there anything there to even mourn? Then again, I've always been quite the existential creature and have felt the weight of the world at every age.

I think in some ways, I have my shit together more than most other newly-twenties; in other ways, I feel like everyone else was given an instructional pamphlet and I was given a coloring book.

I can really feel the sleep hitting now...

I'm kind of excited for this new decade but I'm also kind of wondering who thought it a good idea to let me be in charge of things. I'm still just a freshman in college but I know for a fact this time will fly by and before I know it, I'll be an even adultier adult with a life and a job and more bills to pay.

I guess I'm just scared because all I've ever wanted was stability. I'd be content if nothing exciting happened to me for the rest of my life because more often than not, excitement has brought along its fair share of tragedy and I've never been able to escape it. I want to be happy in my uneventful, stable, healthy, routine, comfortable life. I want a roof over my head and food at the table and health for me and my loved ones. Everything else would just be a bonus.

I think things will be okay. I think they will. I'm optimistic and hopeful enough, I'm just tired of fighting sometimes. And tired of being awake. But good things can happen when I'm awake so I'll keep waking up.

Sweet dreams, friends <3

Hasta la próxima,

Much love xoxo

Maya