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I realized for a while now, that word “quarantine” for us became just a casual word. It’s all over the social media, TV, newspaper, products etc. It gained so much more purpose over these 2 years. It became selling point in many products (ex. masks), it is used in many campaigns and now even in movies. It’s now harder to not see any “quarantine related thing” than ever before.  It is becoming more apparent that the old version of our world isn’t coming back. Most people just measure time before and after COVID. When before march 2020 was the last time, we used the word- quarantine? Probably in movies or textbooks. Personally, I didn’t even know how to spell quarantine correctly until COVID hit. The word earned so much more meaning, from the word that described something surreal and distant to something really close to people all over the world.

 For the last couple of days, I’ve noticed many young people sharing and liking anti-vaccine content on social media. I’m not only talking about teens in Poland but also from the English-speaking countries. There was a burst of many conversations about a rightness of the vaccine. Statements like: we don’t need herd immunity, vaccines have microchips in them etc.  In my opinion, many teens base their knowledge about Covid-19 vaccines on fake news and misinformation. They learn and read from unchecked sources, and they create their opinion even without asking why? They seem to take everything for what it is, not interested in how or why it came to be. It’s like nowadays, fake is mistaken as real and real as fake. And the fake news culture should take a blame for that. I believe, it’s destroying a critical and reasonable thinking. And at some point, things will start to be dangerous for everybody.

Every now and then when I’m out in public, I see little kids with electronic devices with access to the Internet. But last week when I was in the shopping mall, I passed by the group of kids who were comparing likes on their profiles in a very heated way. I passed by them and I couldn’t stop myself from laughing, but also in some way being disappointed in a modern society.  This moment really got me thinking about this ongoing “modern” issue, which puts children in a digital world far too soon. I can’t comprehend that nowadays difference in likes can lead to an argument between friends. Those kids were around 9 or 10 years old. I wonder if they even know how damaging Internet could be for them. In my opinion, society is putting too much technology in children’s hands. Even though we all know how badly that could harm them.

I’ve read an article about current situation in India involving COVID-19. It emphasised how poorly the pandemic is taking care of there and it mentioned how many citizens are in jeopardy. Country is facing a problem with health system, vaccine distribution and heated situation in Indian government.  I noticed how big of a problem has India, when I saw a picture surfing through the Internet of crematorium ground in New Delhi. There is so many deaths caused by COVID that there is not enough space to properly bury bodies. Obviously, they are struggling, India has a huge number of population and the current politicians aren’t helping. People are saying that Indian government could have had used money spent on military to build the more practical health infrastructure of the country. Also, I’ve heard that massive Hindu ceremonies were still taking place which made the cases simply raise even higher. Now the whole world has India in their prayers and hoping for the best. article: ht...

 I’ve read an article about a Polish census and specifically the importance of one particular box- religion. Activists in Poland are emphasizing the significance in making a right choice. The data from previous census is inaccurate and it has been used by politicians (in the rightwing) for many years as an argument in my cases. Those were specifically used against LGBT+ and with pro-choice movement.  I’m not in the position to judge what people should or shouldn’t believe. I guess the main problem appears, when this religion is causing issues and when it’s used against other people. In my opinion, religion should be a personal act and you can’t call yourself a believer when you literally shaming people who are different from you. But I’m honestly not surprised that people still think that our entire country is Roman Catholic. They are making these assumptions mainly based on our traditions-which are mostly Catholic. article: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/19/p...

 I’ve read an article which debated if the Queen Elizabeth II will step down from the throne. Since the death of the Prince Philip, situation in palace has been turbulent. Media is covering the news for the past couple of days and speculating about the Queen’s future. Despite the fact that she is getting older and now also being a widow, she is not resigning.  For me, it’s clear that the Queen will reign as long as she is physically and mentally able to do so. She made a vow to rule as long as she can, and she is still motivated to fulfill her promise. It’s admirable behavior and it’s showing her dedication to her position. Her ruling could be questionable and not perfect but she managed to do it for so long. She is now lost a partner which helped her since day of the coronation and I can’t imagine how she is feeling. article: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/apr/11/she-made-a-pact-with-god-why-the-queen-will-not-be-abdicating

I’ve read an article which talked about selfie culture and the meaning behind them. The main topic was focus on the choice of the camera angle. And how we sometimes, not even aware, use different poses in the way, that we non-verbally communicate with others. When we choose to take selfies from above, left side, frontally etc. All of the mention angles are providing social and emotional signals to viewers.  Selfies have been around since the rise of social media. I was familiar with the general concept of selfie but I wasn’t aware of psychological meaning behind them. It was interesting to learn about the popularity of showing our left side (apparently this side is more emotionally expressive) but also, I really enjoyed the truest statement of all: we look better in our selfies, than in photos other people take of us. In my own believe I see selfies as a way of self-expression, it really tells something about a person, especially on social media. article: https://theconversati...