In making my constraint map, I realized how little I have experienced and how this virus is affecting the world in many ways more than I am experiencing. It isn’t hard for me to get frustrated with what is happening and forget to think about how much harder this is for others who are less fortunate. Many have lost or are going to lose their jobs, are in difficult family situations and cannot escape their homes, or are struggling mentally as a result of this virus. Since quarantining, I have been frustrated, anxious, and just really mad about what was happening. I would think: This doesn’t affect me why can’t I just leave my house and go see my friends, when I got too fed up.
This assignment allowed me to think of others rather than just myself. I started off pretty basic thinking about the effects on health and the economy, but then I began to think about more specific situations as I went down the page. I started picturing myself in different situations that I was thinking about and then being stuck at home didn’t seem that bad after all. I have a happy family, can afford to take care of ourselves and to plan fun things at home. I also thought about local businesses more deeply. I had known that they had been closed down, but I never thought about the families that owned them. My town is filled with mostly family owned businesses and during this time, they would be without jobs, without income, maybe even without enough money to afford food. When I began drawing arrows to connect these categories, I felt like everything kind of trickled down in a way to the word “Stress”. This is what I was feeling right now, and what almost everyone is feeling right now.
The only positive word on here I had found was creativity and opportunity. Focusing on these, I began to think about the amount of people I have seen get creative during this time of stress. People have met up in parking lots sitting in their trunks or on top of their cars to see their friends (while staying 6 feet apart) and I have seen so many creative tik toks online about how to stay busy during quarantine.
I think that although most of these constraints lead to stress and negative emotion, that it is important to focus on opportunity and creativity during this time. This will make this quarantine period more productive and less boring and stressful.
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