3 things I learned about myself while being quarantined

I remember the first 2 weeks of quarantine. I was in a state of complete and utter fear. The news was grim, each state in the U.S  seemed to have a different response, and no one could say exactly what we were dealing with. The virus was scary, and it was recommended that to slow the spread of it, the best plan of attack for Americans would be to quarantine. And so we did. That disconnect from routine, everyday life definitely had an impact.

After 2 weeks, I started to get a little bit antsy. Even though I became a little more comfortable staying home and working from home, not being able to go anywhere because of mandatory business closures still caused a little bit of unease.

At about a month in, things got real. And deep. I started to notice some subtle changes in just about every part of my life. I wanted to examine what this imposed dialing down was teaching me. It was teaching me a lot.

I don’t love going to my job as much as I thought I did

Now, I don’t mean this in a bad way. I just realized that my job had slowly become who I was, no longer what I did.  I look forward to work, and I love the people I work with, but once I was forced to quarantine, and after the initial shock wore off, I became much less impacted by not going to my work and seeing my coworkers. Within a couple of weeks I was looking into online classes, began writing more articles, and became fascinated with online business ventures. It was crazy. It gave me energy and hope that I never would have experienced had I not been forced to slow down. I realized that my job was not my identity, nor was it the best I could do. I suddenly awakened to the notion that there is more to life than helping others fulfill their dreams. Maybe it was time to look at my own.

Home projects are like going to therapy-in a good way

I’ve always been an organized person, and my background in freelance interior design may make this realization a bit more personal. Although, it did seem like all the home improvement stores were bustling during the quarantine, so I suspect I am not alone here. As I said, the first couple weeks were really strange. Netflix and I became very tight, and I spent more time preparing meals. That was about all I could muster at that point. Then, each day I found myself taking on a small project that I had put off for a few, well, forever. The kind of stuff you don’t want to do on your usual work week “day off”. Closet organizing, spring cleaning, windows, spiffing up the bedrooms, you get the idea. Each project I tackled had this amazing, calming effect on me. I would finish and have this palpable sense of peace and began falling in love with my home all over again. I’m telling you, the projects saved me thousands in the therapy I would certainly have needed once this was over. The afterglow wasn’t the whole story, though the immediate high was glorious. It created a desire to do a small home improvement project almost every day now; a junk drawer, planting more flowers around the backyard, organizing my bookshelves, literally anything.  I guess since I was spending so much time at home, I wanted more of a sanctuary, not just a house, and I wanted my sanctuary to be perfect, inside and out.

My body likes comfy clothes, and that’s just fine

I could have gotten carried away with this, but that’s not my style. I did not stay in my pajamas all day. However, loose joggers, tank tops, and tees got the most wear in my wardrobe for sure. And who cares? Yes, I wore the same 3 outfits for months, and did small loads of laundry daily to make sure there was always one of my go-to outfits available in the rotation. It felt amazing. It also prompted to squeeze in an extra walk or short workout because I was always ready to go. That was probably the biggest advantage; working out didn’t seem like such a chore anymore. I just worked it into the day whenever I could, since I didn't have a pesky work schedule to work around. 

All in all, in spite of the horrors of the pandemic, I don’t think I am alone in observing that the quarantine definitely opened eyes, hearts and souls. It’s truly magical what can happen when you just slow down and identify what brings you joy and what does not. The down time improved my outlook, my creativity and my health. And though it was an emotional journey, I am grateful for every bit of it. It proved to me that there is always a silver lining if you are willing to open yourself up to change.