Its been almost a year and a half since COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization. Fast forward to today, the virus is still here and shows no signs of slowing down, even though half of the U.S. population is vaccinated at the time of this posting. Nobody knows when the pandemic will end as some professionals think that this is an "endemic". Even though you're vaccinated, it's still important to mask up and maintain social distance to keep yourself and others safe.

As someone who is a natural homebody, the pandemic didn't affect my mental well-being as much as others. Although it did suck that travel was restricted during the first few months of the pandemic (and still is in certain parts of the world), I've come to the realization of how blessed we are to have the opportunity to travel. We don't realize it until the very thing that we love to do gets taken away from us. The same applies to the hangouts we had with friends pre-covid. The pandemic made us realize how much we've been taking those small, intimate moments with friends and family for granted. I've learned that nothing in this life is guaranteed. Anything or anyone can be taken away from us in an instant. It's that much more significant now than ever to cherish those small moments that you have with friends and family. Here are five things that I've been doing at home to take my mind off of things during this pandemic.

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Catching Up With Old Friends

I remember during the first week of lockdown back in March of 2020, a few of my friends that I haven't spoken to in years, started messaging me. They wanted to check up on me and see how I was doing during this rough time. At first, it was surreal seeing the roads completely empty with no sounds of cars passing by. All of the shops and restaurants were closed. The only thing we could do was to stay home so we wouldn't catch the virus. I also reached out to a few of my friends to see how they were doing. Most of them were doing ok, but I noticed that for a few, the pandemic has taken a toll on their mental health. It's important now more than ever to check up on your friends and family once in a while. After a few weeks, hangouts over Zoom became the new norm. Community-based apps like Discord started to take off. We're a year and a half into the pandemic and we've reached "Zoom fatigue", as places are starting to open up and restrictions are being lifted. It's important to cherish these in-person hangouts as much as we can because who knows when we'll be in another lockdown.

Reading More

Growing up, I was never a person that liked to read. In elementary school, we were all required to read a certain amount of books during the school year. Eventually, it became more of a chore than something that I enjoyed doing during my free time. However, during the pandemic, I decided that I wanted to read books that interested me. I chose to read books that were insightful, inspirational, or shed a new perspective on life. Here are some of my favorite books that I'm currently reading.

I also started to collect design and travel-inspired magazines. These are one of my favorite things to read as they're filled with so much inspiration. Not to mention, they look great on any nightstand or coffee table! Throughout the pandemic, I've picked up Cereal Mag, Design Anthology, Suitcase Magazine, Another Escape Magazine, and The Daily Grace Co. If you didn't know, I also work with Alabaster Co. on their Bible books. They kindly sent me their Bible books for Song of Songs, Job, Jeremiah, and Ruth. I was able to contribute some of my photos for the Bible books mentioned above. These books have been keeping me busy for the majority of quarantine. I always get inspired by their books as they do a tremendous job of incorporating text with beautiful imagery.

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Getting Into New Hobbies

During this pandemic, I noticed that a lot of my friends started diving into new hobbies. I have a friend that bought her first camera and started taking photos professionally. Some of my friends got into rollerskating (which is a pretty popular hobby right now). A lot of my friends started streaming during this time too. As for me, I finally got into hobbies that I've been putting off for a while, because of the costs associated with them. After seeing so many of my friends trying out new hobbies, I decided to get into mechanical keyboards and collecting designer art toys. These are two hobbies that have brought me immense joy during this rough year. As a creative, I value the time it takes to create quality art and that's one of the reasons why I have so much appreciation for designer artists. I buy designer art toys that fit the minimal aesthetic of my room or art toys that I have a strong connection with.

I did a lot of research before buying my first mechanical keyboard. This hobby can get very expensive, so I wanted to research as much as I can before I made the decision. The reason why I got into mechanical keyboards is the amount of customization that you can do to a keyboard. You can customize how the keyboard looks with various keycaps. You can also customize the sound of the keys based on the types of switches, the material of the board, lubing and filming the switches, using foam to dampen the sounds, etc. All of these factors can elevate your typing experience. As someone who works from home most of the time, I needed to have a good quality keyboard to make my work from home experience that much better.

Working On My Photography Business

As someone who runs their own small business, it's important to set short-term and long-term goals for your business. I admit I haven't been setting that many goals for my business this past year due to the uncertainty of covid. However, during this time in quarantine, I have been able to work on a few aspects of my business. Especially when it comes to my online presence. I was able to set up a Google MyBusiness account. When potential clients search for my business online, the first thing that comes up is information about my business on Google along with reviews from past clients. If you're a small business owner, I highly recommend setting up a Google MyBusiness account. It can increase your SEO and potentially get more views on your product or service.

The best business decision I've made so far this year was creating a graduation portrait Instagram account. I've gotten a ton of inquiries from potential clients about a graduation session. Before creating this account, I made sure that my username was searchable and good for SEO. I had a few clients who told me that I was the first account to pop up when they searched for "Southern California graduation photographer". That means my SEO is working!

Other business things include updating my blog and portfolio, creating content across my social media platforms, creating short-form video content for Reels and TikTok, and creating listings on various wedding vendor sites. I also worked on a few fun collab projects this year such as the Iceland Virtual Art Gallery created by my talented friend Michael Nguyen. I'm also planning to revamp my whole website since the layout has stayed the same since its creation in 2015.

Redecorating My Room and Turning It Into a Home Office

Before the pandemic, I didn’t have a dedicated workspace. I was usually at the living room dining table working from my laptop. After seeing a lot of desk setups from content creators around the world and knowing that working from home would become the new norm, I decided to turn my room into a home office. I switched out my old dark wood messy desk for a clean, modern, minimal desk from IKEA. I'll be posting a separate blog post on my desk set up in the next few months where I go into detail about each item on my desk! Besides the desk, I bought a nightstand, shelf unit, and bookshelf. I'm also planning to get a new dresser and clothing shelving unit to complete the room setup. The theme that I'm going for is a monochrome minimal look with white and black being the dominant color with a little bit of gray mixed in. After being in this new home office for a year, I've become more productive and less distracted. I can't wait to show you guys my new desk setup in the coming months.

Thanks for reading all the way until the end! You're a real one! If you liked what you read, feel free to check out my Instagram for more behind the scenes of my photography and a sneak peek into my life.

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