You lived through a pandemic🤔
March 2020: I showed up at work.
If you don't know me, I LOVE MY JOB. I loved it when I started in the mailroom after navigating stay at home mom life with part-time jobs for a few years. I read/listened to over 400 books my first year (Fun Fact: I also LOVE books). I still love it today as I work in Talent Acquisition and I'm wayyyyyy too busy for books on the clock. It's definitely a toxic situation. I have to make myself clock out. But that's not today's topic...
A couple weeks prior in February, we'd had a company meeting at Dave & Buster's. I'd played my first VR game with a group of my favorites and had a ball. Playing games, laughing, talking. This was our normal.
But today when I walked in... today our CEO was in a track suit (out of character for her) and she was speed walking (which is normal). My tiny office was in the same wing as hers so as I was heading towards my door, she summoned me. Today she was strategizing the quickest, most efficient way to move the entire office to work from home. Tomorrow the city would pretty much be shut down.
OK. Not an issue for me. I already had work from home capability, as it was a perk of my new position. I'd be fine. No biggie...
Later that evening when my husband got off from work, we stopped at Walmart. The schools were closing. I enjoy the kids being home so, GREAT! We'd just grab some extra food for lunches and snacks. No biggie...
People were everywhere, maskless, not yet frantic. We even joked in the aisles with other people that were facing the same task. Little did we realize the multitude of what was to come.
Then suddenly...
I wasn't an essential worker so I was supposed to stay in the house. As a homebody, I thought this would be easy breezy for me. The kids reported to the living room for school and I reported with them for work, only escaping to my room when had virtual meetings or calls to make. I was thriving once our new routine was established.
Then mid-April 2020 a meeting popped up on my calendar on a Friday with the CEO. This was a usual occurrence so, OK. When the virtual meeting began the HR Assistant popped in with us. Weird, but no biggie...
"As things have progressed beyond what we initially prepared for, we are going into a hiring freeze. So, for the time being, we have to lay you off." Girllllllllllllllll, WHAT!?!?! Again...
Shocked. I filed for unemployment immediately and gave myself 48 hours to freak out. My husband spent that weekend repetitively telling me not to worry but how could I not? In a Blink of an eye, I'd lost my job!?!
I didn't know what to do with myself. My routine was broken again. How would I thrive? Of course... the kids! They still have school. I became the lunch lady. We'd watch true crime shows while they were on their lunch break. I went on mid-day walks so Ava could get outside, get fresh air, and move around. I established a new routine and was again THRIVING.
I stopped watching the news because it gave me anxiety. People were dying. What if I died? I'm Ava's guardian. What would happen to her if Covid killed me? Ugh.
Social media became the NEW News. George Floyd. Ahmaud Arbery. Breonna Taylor. There were others. All with footage. Heavy. Glad I didn't have to navigate this time while showing up in the workplace.
In July (I think) a friend invited me and my husband to join her on a challenge to lose 10 lbs in a week. Probably not possible but OK, bet. That mid-day walk with Ava progressed into 3 walks daily: morning, noon, and before cooking dinner. I was walking at least 3 miles daily. At the end of the week I had lost 7 lbs. Not the 10lbs challenged but I had seen the control I had over my body. I was hooked.
I continued my daily walks, started fasting, and purchased a vibration machine. Walking became my peace. It was my me time. It's where I resumed listening to my books. It was what I didn't know I'd needed.
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August 2020: Back to work I go, go to work I'm back. Ugh. I just had to take my work laptop out the bag and get back to it. Ugh. I had truly enjoyed my time off. Routine broken? Nope. I continued to be the lunch lady and watched true crime daily with the kids. I got up earlier to do my morning walk. I figured out how to achieve some level of work/life balance.
I thought being stuck in the house JOBLESS would take me out. It didn't. It showed me that as much as I thrive in a daily routine and LOATHE change, adaptation is possible. A skill that I needed to sharpen because unscheduled change used to make me crumble.
Now I just be out here living and 💩.
Next time, we'll start talking through the deep depression that tried to drown me...
Questions? Suggestions?
Email me: pdashraeblog@gmail.com All questions will be answered monthly. Questions can be anonymous.
