The City that Never Sleeps Slept
by IRIS V.
The pandemic has forced everybody to take a step back and reflect on their lives, what they’ve accomplished, what they want to accomplish and who they are as a person. I know for sure that the pandemic has forced me to do this. And not only has it forced me to reflect, it has forced me to reevaluate my priorities and way of thinking. My notions on who I thought I was were surprisingly false. I am not somebody who is surprised easily and what I have learned over this pandemic has truly shocked me all for the better. Although it has been for the better, it was definitely a sharp and abrupt adjustment to make in the middle of the year with no warning that had some negative side effects.
I’m what’s known as an old soul. Ever since I was a baby, I kinda just sat and observed the world around me, taking everything in. I didn’t like being around a lot of people, especially ones I wasn’t close with. And that’s always been me, that’s what I defined myself as. The quiet serious one, it’s how everyone I know defined me as. All that was changed by the pandemic. On March 13, it was announced that schools would be closed through spring break and I couldn’t have been happier. I loved the thought of being at home for a few weeks and taking a break from school. I was sorely mistaken, it was torture being cut off from everybody within a days notice. Nobody, especially me, realised what else we’d be giving up when we went into quarantine.
One of the charms of living in New York is the instant community you have. There’s not much space for over 8 million people so you are never alone here and that’s one of the many things that I took for granted because they were here everyday. I live on Mulberry street, which is filled with restaurants and people everyday, they even close the street on the weekends for people to take over. One night my sister, mom, and I were walking home and there was a crowd of people just dancing in the middle of the street for hours. Every Saturday, there are two drag queens that sing and dance at one of the restaurants on the block. Every week, the outfits top the previous week and they make it feel like a party when you walk by. I was shopping with my mom and an old Taylor Swift song came on and every 20-something year old girl in the store was singing along. These were the things I never thought I would miss and was heartbroken when they were gone. My block looked like a ghost town during lockdown, it was the quietest I’ve ever seen it.
A big part of my personality before the pandemic was just “I have to do this, this and this and then I can have fun, or then I can relax.” I was always pushing for something more. I learned that it’s not the end of the world if I don’t turn in my homework on time. I learned that it’s okay to be average if it means you’re happy. I stopped doing things because of how they’d look to others and because of how I felt about them. I learned that kindness can get you very far in life, and everybody has their own life with their own issues that they are the center of and what they do doesn’t have anything to do with you personally. Most importantly I learned to relax, to give myself a break. Something very new and surprising for me.
The pandemic has clearly taken a lot, but it allowed me to grow and change as a person. Not only that, but it has cleared up my schedule a lot. Allowing me to work while I’m in school. I nanny a one-year old and I’ve been doing it since July of last year and it has been one of the biggest silver linings of the entire pandemic. I’ve never had somebody’s entire life in my hands, everything I said or did around her, affected her. She forced me to be a happier person and look at what actually matters in life like helping others, being grateful for what you have, not trying to rush to your next task and much more.
I’m what’s known as an old soul. Ever since I was a baby, I kinda just sat and observed the world around me, taking everything in. I didn’t like being around a lot of people, especially ones I wasn’t close with. And that’s always been me, that’s what I defined myself as. The quiet serious one, it’s how everyone I know defined me as. All that was changed by the pandemic. On March 13, it was announced that schools would be closed through spring break and I couldn’t have been happier. I loved the thought of being at home for a few weeks and taking a break from school. I was sorely mistaken, it was torture being cut off from everybody within a days notice. Nobody, especially me, realised what else we’d be giving up when we went into quarantine.
One of the charms of living in New York is the instant community you have. There’s not much space for over 8 million people so you are never alone here and that’s one of the many things that I took for granted because they were here everyday. I live on Mulberry street, which is filled with restaurants and people everyday, they even close the street on the weekends for people to take over. One night my sister, mom, and I were walking home and there was a crowd of people just dancing in the middle of the street for hours. Every Saturday, there are two drag queens that sing and dance at one of the restaurants on the block. Every week, the outfits top the previous week and they make it feel like a party when you walk by. I was shopping with my mom and an old Taylor Swift song came on and every 20-something year old girl in the store was singing along. These were the things I never thought I would miss and was heartbroken when they were gone. My block looked like a ghost town during lockdown, it was the quietest I’ve ever seen it.
A big part of my personality before the pandemic was just “I have to do this, this and this and then I can have fun, or then I can relax.” I was always pushing for something more. I learned that it’s not the end of the world if I don’t turn in my homework on time. I learned that it’s okay to be average if it means you’re happy. I stopped doing things because of how they’d look to others and because of how I felt about them. I learned that kindness can get you very far in life, and everybody has their own life with their own issues that they are the center of and what they do doesn’t have anything to do with you personally. Most importantly I learned to relax, to give myself a break. Something very new and surprising for me.
The pandemic has clearly taken a lot, but it allowed me to grow and change as a person. Not only that, but it has cleared up my schedule a lot. Allowing me to work while I’m in school. I nanny a one-year old and I’ve been doing it since July of last year and it has been one of the biggest silver linings of the entire pandemic. I’ve never had somebody’s entire life in my hands, everything I said or did around her, affected her. She forced me to be a happier person and look at what actually matters in life like helping others, being grateful for what you have, not trying to rush to your next task and much more.
