Looking back on one entire year of working from (and doing basically everything else) from home
Three hundred and sixty-five long, yet also short, days ago, my office told all employees to gather their belongings as they sent us into the unknown (working from home).
It was supposed to be temporary, for just a couple of weeks as a measure of caution until the whole "coronavirus" thing blew over. About a month in, they sent out a company-wide email with a May return date; then another pushing it back to mid-June when the virus numbers continued to multiply out of control. The updates eventually ceased, and in mid-summer they allowed anyone who was comfortable to start going back into the office while everyone else, including me, stayed safe in our bunkers. Then summer turned to fall which shifted into winter and then brought us into the new year.
And now, here I am, still working from home. The only real changes are that I'm doing so for a new company(!!) and at a new map marker (for my further-away-from-downtown address!!). Oh, and I've officially experienced a pandemic birthday (hello 25). So other than my age, location, and occupation (and my hair a few times—yes I've been cutting and dying my own hair, and yes, I had a pink phase), nothing much has else has changed for me personally.
Each day, my boyfriend and I take our dog on a long morning walk and repeat after work, and take him out again once each at noon-ish and before bed. I hurt my back sitting at my desk all day every weekday, and then slouch on the couch on weekends in between longer strolls. We cook most of our meals, my boyfriend makes most of our lunches and I take care of most dinners; we go grocery shopping on weekends, and we only occasionally eat meat when we get takeout. We watch a ton of Netflix/Hulu/Amazon/HBO/Showtime/Peacock, but also read and try to make time for ourselves with workouts. We did some road trips in the fall and winter, but have no set plans for vacations this year. We spend pretty much every waking moment at home and have only seen friends and family a few handfuls of times.
Most days and weeks blend together and repeat in Groundhog Day fashion, but we've had our share of new experiences and many moments of joy to be grateful for.
For the outside world, this past year has been much more of a whirlwind. But among all the division, uncertainty, fear, and "unprecedence," I still see some cracks of light shining through these dark times. Vaccines are being rolled out, detrimental Trump policies are being rolled back, and I've seen so many instances of people coming together even as they have to stay apart by six feet or further. Of course, there is still a lot to be desired in terms of human action for ongoing crises like racial justice and climate change; so I'm hoping that we can get the virus controlled this year so that these wounds can start to be tended to.
If this past year has reiterated anything, it's that positive change takes effort. Whether it's getting yourself on the yoga mat or to the polls (or, in 2020, to the post office to cast your mail-in ballot), applying for that job or applying your skills to help others, or sacrificing your "normal" for the common good, you can't just sit around waiting for the change you want to happen on its own—or for others to make it happen for you. You have to step up (or step down) and give it a chance.
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