I think we can all agree the last few weeks have been weird. When I first heard about COVID-19 and China’s restrictions on people leaving their homes, I thought the rules were just an output of their strict government. But, as we learned about and were affected by the virus more in the U.S., we (or most of us) understood why physical distancing was needed to not overwhelm the healthcare systems and help treat the pandemic. I think it took until governments started making local orders that people took it seriously. At least, for me knowing that the NBA and universities wouldn’t just shut down willy-nilly was a huge eye opener about the pandemic despite it not being something tangible.
Our day-to-day routines have changed and I see from people on social media that emotions are changing just as rapidly. I’m an introvert and in a new city, so staying at home with just Steve for days at a time doesn’t feel that odd. What does feel odd is not having the option to take the bus to the gym, and worrying each time I go outside whether I’m going to make myself or others sick.
I haven’t really known how to publicly portray my day-to-day life to strike a balance of levity but concern. So, I thought I’d start addressing what our life looks like with physical distancing in the Bay Area and how Steve and I are currently responding.
Sheltering in place
We live in San Francisco and our city was one of the first to instate “Shelter in Place,” which now many of my friends around the country are also experiencing. What this means for us personally has been difficult at times. We don’t run any errands except those that are “essential,” which has included food and post office trips. We both are active people so Steve has kept his evening runs and I still try to go on walks. We do abide by the 6 foot rule and will walk in the street or cross to the other side to avoid people. It’s frustrating when everyone doesn’t do this. In the grocery store (where they aren’t limiting the number of people shopping), patrons seem to crowd the same aisles instead of waiting their turns. I can only do my best to protect myself and others by limiting time spent outside our apartment.
On a lighter note, I am extremely grateful Steve and I have a one bedroom apartment compared to our studio in Chicago. This tweet about living in a studio during the pandemic made me LOL:
get a small studio, they said. you'll never be there anyway, they said
— Steadman™ (@AsteadWesley) March 21, 2020
Working from home
Steve’s company went to virtual work first and mine followed suite soon after. My company has been very supportive of helping us work from home successfully, which I’m grateful for. We were able to take our monitors home and have had resources such as meditation Zoom calls to stay engaged and sane. As as introvert, working from home has been relatively easy, but Steve and I did first have to figure out a setup for both of us to be able to concentrate. (That meant each of us working in a different rooms of the apartment.)
I also haven’t quite gotten into a good groove for working from home, for example waking up early enough to do my whole morning routine as if I were to heading into work. Most days I work in sweats. But I am trying to develop a schedule, and have been doing a 15 minute walking workout (my “commute”) to start the day and a walk in the afternoon to get my body moving. It’s funny because I feel like as soon as I get into my groove our office will open back up. But, I guess that’ll be good news.
Staying social while distant
The reason I’m using the term physical distancing in this post is because a lot of mental health experts are now speaking up about the detriments about the term “social isolation” or “social distancing.” Both sound as if you need to cut off contact to the outside world to fight the coronavirus, and thankfully we know that’s not true. I’ve seen people in parks literally physically distance themselves 6-10 feet away to picnic with friends. While I don’t know if that’s approved by health experts, I can understand why you’d need that human interaction. I’ve loved seeing how friends and families have stayed social while physical distancing using technology. One blogger I follow has started daily themed dance parties with her friends. Another held a Zoom call where each friend created a PowerPoint about some inconsequential topic to get everyone laughing. My brother’s friends did a Zoom trivia night where one friend led the questions/kept score. (My family ended up FaceTiming during and eavesdropped on the end of trivia.)
I personally like the idea of the app Houseparty to play games virtually and Netflix Party to chat while watching a movie. My friends and I used Netflix Party while watching “It Takes Two” and it was the perfect Friday activity to feel connected for a few hours.
Supporting small businesses
Before all of this began, Steve and I had a trip to Chicago/Ohio planned to celebrate a friend’s wedding. Sadly, the wedding celebration was postponed and we knew it wasn’t responsible nor feasible to travel to Chicago and visit with friends for a week. I had several appointments during my time back in Chicago, including a nail appointment at Mojo Spa. I knew most of the businesses would be temporarily closing but called to be sure to cancel my appointments regardless. When I spoke to the owner of Mojo Spa, the severity of shelter in place on small business owners really hit me. She sounded nervous and overwhelmed and asked if I could share anything, to help even the smallest bit while they stayed open for curbside pickup and web orders. I of course shared about them on social media and placed an order for Steve and myself for some of our favorite products from the store.
I’m sure you’ve seen this, but other ways you can support small businesses in addition to purchasing goods is buying gift certificates for a later date, sharing about their products on your social media (which is free to you), and looking up if there’s a local fund to donate to for employees in your area.
Taking it day by day
I can’t imagine what this time will be like to look back on, and I’m also scared to imagine that. I know the world is up against a lot and the pandemic is bringing out some of the best but also worst in people. I’m scared for my grandma in a nursing room for obvious reasons, and for all of us now that scientists are learning more about how the disease doesn’t discriminate. Because of all of that, though, I’m choosing to take this day by day to stay sane. I also found a quote in The New York Times by Dr. Emily Landon, the chief infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of Chicago Medicine, to be very helpful in feeling confident about our choices:
“A successful shelter in place means that you’re going to feel like it was all for nothing. You’d be right, because nothing means that nothing happened to your family. And that’s what we’re going for here.”
Wishing you well.