Serendipity /ˌsɛr(ə)nˈdɪpɪti/ the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.
If I told you a happy story from 2020, would you believe me?
A month has passed after my arrival in Romania,
Town felt like home, people looked familiar. It’s high time to connect with the environment and start working on my self-development. For every person, there is one day from 365 days of the year that we can call ours. We take it as a starting point for new changes and new life and this day is your birthday. Just like every other human I put a lot of hopes and expectations on my birthday, hoping that the next day everything will be different and I’ll be a brand new, better version of myself. Usually, hopes stay as hopes, but not this time.
Day 289/366, October 15th, my own day.
The morning of my birthday I spend grocery shopping with my flatmate (now that I look back, it was already perfect) little did I knew this would be the last walk outside for the next two weeks. Yup, isolation found me.
What is isolation if not fear? Fear, that instead of going out meeting others, for a while the only person you will be getting to know will be yourself. Instead of discovering the world, the only thing you will be exploring and re-discovering will be the world inside you and most importantly, you will not be having a good time with others anymore, but you will need to find ways to enjoy your own company and find peace in yourself.
My case was different. I have never been afraid of being alone. actually, back then I would consider it as a paradise.
my fear was about having to spend all these days with other people. In a house with 4 rooms and 5 people, it’s really hard to have personal space. before that has never been a problem as I could always take my headphones and go out for 2 hours walk with myself and losing this ability was terrifying for me. I remember a panic laugh attack after finding out the new and also the first bright idea- ordering as many bottles of wine as possible. I also remember sitting in the kitchen and thinking “oh my god, it’s just the first day of the quarantine”. the next thing I can recall is the thought - “omg, it’s already the last day of the quarantine”. Daaamn, time really flies when you are enjoying the moment. Afternoon yoga sessions and failing even before staring… writing movie scripts and almost suffocating from laughing about it… gathering in our tiny kitchen drinking wine and telling ridiculous stories we would never tell in other situations…. evenings with a whole cast of F.R.I.E.N.D.S and lots of laughers. maybe they don’t sound special, but to me, those moments are written with golden letters in my heart.
After spending the first 2 weeks of 22 at home I went outside and I can’t say that birds were singing and the world was better or worse or it had changed in any way since I left (well, it was a bit colder as winter was coming) and I don’t know what or why but everything felt different. What I know for sure is that my 22nd birthday was the day after which I really changed.
I went outside as a person with different values, started appreciating every moment, trying to find happiness in every little detail.
A person who had realized what she wanted and needed,
the person with new goals and new plans. The person with sweet memories and new connections.
The person with a lot of feelings and family behind her. And, yes, this family was created during the quarantine.
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