Quarantine Gratitude List

Hi, friends! It’s been officially 2+ months since the beginning of social distancing. While staying home, I have had time and space to reflect and be grateful, and I thought it would be fun to share my “Quarantine Gratitude List” with you!

Being Employed and Able to Work from Home

I am incredibly thankful to be employed and be able to work from home. My job is all done on a computer so my work day looks pretty much the same besides the fact that I am alone in a room. Being able to work and maintaining what is a typical work schedule for me has given me a sense of normalcy during this weird period.

Having Disposable Income

Though my salary is modest, I feel extremely privileged to have disposable income (trust me, this is new to me as my first job out of college paid $11.54/hour). Being generous with money has been a resolution of mine for the last couple of years, and I have been making conscious effort to support small, local businesses during the last couple of months. My exciting recent purchases include: books from Bookmarks, coffee beans from Counter Culture, the cutest postcard from Lindsay Paperworks, and all the cheese from Boxcarr.

Online Workout Classes

If you don’t know me IRL, I am one of those people who only work out in group exercise classes (because I cannot motivate/push myself physically). Ever since I joined the Y back in 2018, I have been going to 2~3 workout classes every week so I was afraid at the beginning of quarantine that I’ll revert back to being a couch potato. Though I have been spending a significant amount of time on the couch (thus pictured the perfect postcard), I have been following workout videos/joining online workout classes, and they have kept me sane. Seriously, I probably have never done Pi-Yo as frequently and regularly as I have been in the last two months.

Weekly “Gatherings” with Friends

As most people, Zoom calls have been a regular part of my social calendar during the last couple of months. Most notable recurring gatherings have been Thursday Zoom calls with some of my favorite Salemites and and Friday Game/Trivia Nights with Alex’s friends. Thankful to have something to look forward to every week (especially on Friday eve and Friday!).

Public Libraries & OverDrive/Libby App

I mentioned it briefly in my most recent book post, but I’m incredibly thankful to be able to borrow eBooks and audiobooks from the library. Reading has been a great hobby to fill time and a much needed distraction from social media as well. Thanks to Alex for letting me use (read: steal) his Kindle and to people who send me book recommendations as well (please keep them coming)!

What are you grateful for?