By Samantha Medina

After over six months, people have had to adjust to new lifestyles due to COVID-19. Mask mandates, social distancing and staying at home has made life difficult by limiting the usual daily activities. People are adjusting to the new normal and maybe even liking the new way of life. 

Rachel Garcia of Pueblo has enjoyed the mask mandates and has created a mini business of her own by making her own masks. “I love that I am able to create cool different styles with masks,” Garcia says. “We’re going to be wearing masks for a while so might as well make them part of my outfit. You have to have fun with it. Plus, I don’t have to wear any makeup under my mask.” Garcia loves to coordinate her masks to her outfits and as well as many members of the community who have bought personalized masks from her.

Jake Baca, also part of the Pueblo community, has enjoyed being social distanced from other people. “When I started going back to restaurants, I wasn’t sure how everything was going to but I actually enjoyed sitting at a table away from other customers! I didn’t mind being away from people at all,” Baca continues “Although, I do feel bad for servers since they are not getting as many tables as they usually would be. I have been supporting local restaurants during this pandemic since they are also going through rough times.” 

Shirley Tafoya has taken advantage of the time she’s been spending at home. Tafoya, like  people around the world, wanted to make some changes in their homes since they were spending a lot more time there during this pandemic. “I was able to go through all my clothes and get rid of things I have had for years,” Tafoya mentions. She also bought new furniture and completely rearranged her living room. “It felt so good to finally do this to my house because it’s something I’ve been putting off for months!” she added. 

As people go through this pandemic, many have found different ways to make light of the situation. Many people in the community are creating new ways to adjust to the new normal but still keeping things safe.

Mackenzie Long, wanted to use her time wisely at home by working out, eating better, and investing more time in her self-care. As a busy woman working full time while going to college, she was very nervous for what these next few months are going to look like. She realized that she needed to take more time for herself. “When everything shut down, I came to the realization that I needed to take more care of myself. I’m so used to being busy all the time and it was nice to just slow down,” She expressed. “I started to work out and just eat healthier.  It was the best thing I could’ve done for myself! I made the new changes to my self-care routine so that I could keep going on this and continue down this new path,” she said. 

Long was grateful for the shutdown. She was able to realize how much she needed to take care of herself. “I wouldn’t have done any of it if it wasn’t for things shutting down. I’ve been able to just take care of myself in my own home while staying safe,” Long also explains that we have to just accept what’s happening in our world. “There are ways to be better people and still do your activities while being safe and social distancing,” she added.

Community members are getting used to the changes and turning them into positives as much as they can in this new normal.