This week marks the one year anniversary of living in a pandemic, for me. It probably varies slightly for everyone, but this was the week last year that I packed up my computer to work from home, and then was almost immediately laid off for almost 6 months.
Right from the beginning it was being said that this could last a year or more, but it was hard to imagine at the time. Even now it doesn’t really feel like how a whole year of something should, but I’ve noticed as we’re starting to see an end in sight that a lot of people are talking about the positive changes the pandemic has brought and what things they hope will not go back to ‘normal’.
It reminds me of this quote (and image) that I saved years ago because it spoke so clearly to me about how messed up our priorities had become:
Coincidentally, this week also happens to be the 4 year anniversary of when I read the book Early Retirement Extreme and realized there were actual steps I could take that would help me to completely escape from this situation much sooner than I had thought possible. More importantly, there were changes I could immediately make to start improving my work-life balance.
(As a side note, this book is not the one I would recommend as the best way to get people motivated to live their best life. I’ve read a ton of others since that would probably be better stepping stones, but this was the extreme viewpoint that gave me the push I needed.)
I remember telling my boss and my manager at the time that I was planning to be financially independent in 5 years. My boss replied “Well, they say it’s good to speak your goals out loud.” Obviously she was just humouring me and, as it’s already been 4 years now, I can see my timeline wasn’t quite accurate, but I am definitely in a much better place now than I was then.
I left that job within a year so I could ditch the commute and change to a 4-day work week and it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. The other biggest improvement since then has been the shift to working from home, which brings us back to the pandemic.
I am pretty sure that flexibility about where you work from is here to stay for most of the people that have been able to do it for the last year, and I think that is a great thing. As an introvert, it has been so beneficial for me to have a quiet atmosphere to get my work done without interruption. My frustration level is way down.
In general though, it seems like people have had the downtime they needed to discern what things are actually important to them, based on which parts of regular life they really miss and which parts they’re happy to leave behind. It will be different for everyone, obviously, but that in itself is kind of the point – we don’t all have to do all the things.
Personally, while I haven’t had any big epiphanies, I have been pleased to discover that the work I’d been doing over past few years (pre-pandemic) was clearly on the right track and that I do have a pretty good idea of what I value and what I don’t.
As much as I’m trying to keep my post-pandemic expectations low, I can’t help but feel like I want to start making plans. In order to not be disappointed by possible setbacks, I just wrote down general things that I want to start doing, whenever it becomes possible to ‘do things’.
Here are the things:
- Work on building the local Balboa scene by having regular practice sessions with other dancers who are interested in improving their dancing and growing the community
- Attend live jazz and dance events whenever possible and work on engaging with newcomers and making the scene more inclusive and welcoming to everyone
- Practice dancing in the lead role to open up my options for dance partners
- Host patio parties (This one is just weather and yard work pending because we’re actually allowed to do that now!)
I made that whole list in one day, so obviously I had dancing on my mind at the time, but it’s an ongoing list and there’s still plenty of time to add to it. Making lists is one of my favourite activities, by the way.
Oh, I also bought tickets to a concert in Dublin, Ireland for May 2022, but I’m trying not to get too ahead of myself on that one.
Dancing In Irreverence 