That universal feeling of “cabin fever” during the COVID-19 pandemic is something many Americans felt during those initial months of quarantine. Days started to blend together as each one felt the same as the last. As the pandemic continued, many of us researched hobbies with the hopes of uncovering a newly found passion during this time of uncertainty. Ella Gauthier, a student intern with the Happiness and Wellness Initiative, reflects back on the year 2020 and how the life-altering COVID-19 pandemic led her to discover new hobbies and interests for her and her family.
During early quarantine, Ella watched her Dad, the so-called “head chef” of the household, cook for her family when they started to limit restaurant dining and take-out orders. Cooking brought him a sense of peace, a feeling that “we were all trying to achieve during the unpredictable events of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Ella says. Ella started to help out in the kitchen, researching new recipes like chicken lemon orzo soup, Italian stuffed peppers, and an abundance of desserts. She soon realized that it also brought her the sense of calm she was yearning for. Food brought Ella and her dad closer, both physically (in their kitchen) and emotionally, as they found a mutual love for cooking.
It became my greatest de-stressor as it allowed me to disconnect from the stressors of everyday life and be present with my family. It unlocked this new sense of creativity and joy that I hadn’t personally felt in months.
She was also able to connect with her mom, an accomplished registered dietician, through their love for nutrition and food science. She first became interested in this “incredibly vast field,” as she describes it, when she started attending her mom’s college-level lectures while still in elementary school during school vacations. “I was captivated by the science behind food and how it affects our bodies and minds,” says Ella.
She continued to challenge herself at a young age by skimming through her mom’s textbooks whenever she got the chance. She loved learning about everything from the digestive tract to the different food groups and the entire anatomy and physiology of the human body. It wasn’t until the pandemic, however, when Ella and her mom decided to combine their interests and expertises in nutrition and cooking.
Discovering my love for cooking and strengthening my interest in nutrition brought me closer with my parents than I ever would have expected. It led me to a health-based career path, and I found a passion for something that pushed me to help others achieve a healthy lifestyle.
They produced their very own food blog called “Mother Daughter Foodies.” This kept them busy during those first few months of quarantine and gave them a long-term project upon which to focus their attention. They uploaded their favorite recipes and added a “nutrition blurb” which explained the nutritional significance behind each recipe. Ella says that they “continued to do this throughout quarantine and enjoyed working together while doing something we both love.”
While the pandemic took so much from our personal lives — people, experiences, celebrations and safety — Ella was able to find unexpected joy in those moments of darkness. It granted time with loved ones, leading to new hobbies, interests and connections, and she says that she “was able to find parts of myself during the pandemic that I felt like I had lost, and that alone has given me so much to be thankful for.”