Dear Diary: Why this Calgary student calls isolation the 'two-headed gift of time'

CBCCalgarywants to knowhow you are living these days. What are you doing differently? What makes you laugh? Cry? Scream? Have you started a new hobby? Let us know.

In thisinstalment of our series, Dear Diary: In a Time of COVID-19, we hear from Ariana Revnic. She's a Grade 11 student at Western Canada High School. This submission has been edited for clarity and length.

Quarantine has given me the two-headed gift of time. It hascaused me to both overthink in the best ways and the worst (naturally, seeing as this is an incredibly trying time for everyone). It has made me realize with an even deeper understanding the importance of being present.

The reality is, as a young person, you're always told to look forward, and rightly so. However, there comes a point where we become so fixated on the future that it blinds us from registering what we have right now.

This pandemic has caused me to grasp how blind I really have been, and the experiences I have been taking for granted. The phone calls I have with friends seem to have so much more meaning, and that cordial "how are you?" at the beginning of them holds a certain weight it didn't hold before.

The "social distancing visits" I have with my family seem to be the highlights of my days, and the simple yet oddly special greetings with my neighbours from the driveway get more and more appreciated every day.

As well, this quarantine has given me the time to grow as an artist in the most unexpected ways.

Having to complete my drama course online is strange (to say the least), yet has caused me to write and perform the most vulnerable and real pieces I think I've worked on thus far. I have so much more time to write and create, and I'll probably have filled an entire notebook with work by the end of this isolation.

Of course quarantine as a 16-year-old is not exactly ideal, but the memories I'll be making when we have our sense of "normal" back will be so much more amazing. The first hugs with friends, the first night drives, the first concerts all of it is going to be so much more important, and I will so much more gladly stay present for it all.

What's happening in the world is scary.

Every single one of us has an impact on what's going on, and that's even scarier. That's why I'm more than grateful and humbled by the humans on the front lines of this virus who have been doing the most to help us get back to our lives sooner rather than later.

I hope everyone gets to find their silver linings.

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