Quarantine Thoughts
I woke up this morning to day 3 of our family’s lockdown. I saw this coming and I understand it, but my emotions are still in shock and disbelief. I’m addicted to the news and to social media. EVERYONE keeps saying that’s the worst possible thing to do, but I’d rather know first. I want to absorb as much information as possible so that I can process….
Those first few sentences were as far as I could get at the beginning of this lockdown. Now, I’m sitting on the same screen 9 weeks later. So many things have changed, but I’m trying to focus on what has stayed the same. My family is safe. We’ve had more time than ever to really get to know one another. We’ve played poker. We’ve walked together. We’ve swam together. We’ve cooked together, and we’ve even baked together, which is wild because I almost never bake. It’s such a strange feeling to be afraid for your family’s safety and at the exact same time to be so incredibly grateful for the time and opportunity in front of you. I know many families have been experiencing a similar mix of feelings, and that’s part of where the “all in this together” comes from.
I’ve been thinking a lot about where we go from here. Some areas of society are attempting to inch back to normal, but it seems like some aspects of this COVID-19 pandemic are here to stay for the foreseeable future. It’s obvious that businesses, schools, and even the most mundane social interactions are becoming more virtual. My husband who once went to a building 40+ hours a week is now in our home every day, and it seems he has no problem conducting the same amount of business. I know I’m looking forward to the changes in education. I’m going to be real open here and say that distance learning on the elementary level has been equal to scratching fingernails on a chalkboard for our family. It has nothing to do with the teachers and their ability to reach the kids, but everything to do with the platforms just not being intuitive to children (specifically children of such a young age). Those in charge of education on a state level are going to have some big decisions to make and my hope is that they realize how seriously behind they are in enabling virtual learning. (Perhaps the state has been too busy investing in testing for the last decade…) How do you bring these incredible teachers and their priceless talent into a virtual classroom? Now, more than ever, is the time to figure it out! But I digress… 🙂
I’ve personally worked pretty steadily through this entire lockdown. When the means to provide for your family is still a possibility, you keep showing up. I bet if someone had asked me a few years ago if I’d continue to work through a global pandemic, I’d have said, “No way!” But the work is here, daily, and I definitely want to show up for my clients. I’m not going to let them down. This is typically a busy time of year for real estate, and somehow, that trend is still holding in our local market. It’s kept me going, which at times can feel like I’m running the highest speed on a treadmill, but I’m thankful to be able to do that at all!
I’ve shared before about how long-distance clients have given me the opportunity to practice using many different tools for virtual home buying and selling, and now that we’re here, I’m more motivated than ever to continue finding ways to make both processes as seamless as possible for my clients while social distancing. For anyone buying or selling a home during such a stressful and uncertain season, the process becomes THAT much more important to get right. I’m here for y’all, and if the outpouring of kindness and thoughtfulness I’ve seen among so many friends and neighbors is any indication, we really will all get through this together.
This post was originally published in May, 2020.