I’ve been working from home for over 20 years now, so that’s not new to me. To be honest though, having a less pressing workload has left us with more time on our hands. I don’t know about you, but I’m finding rekindled delight in the small details of the day to day.
Cooking had grown to be a thing I enjoyed only occasionally, when I had the mise en place and the time to play, but mostly it was just a gotta do. Get the food on the table in between projects. We’d go out to eat, order in, or get meal kits with the mise all en place. It worked and when I had time, or felt like it, I enjoyed cooking.
About 3 weeks ago we ordered deliveries from our favorite online purveyors and settled in for the long haul. Time stood on it’s head and the days blended together. With somewhat limited resources it’s taken more creativity. What can I do with this? How can I cook that differently this time?
I started a new sourdough starter and started baking. I learned how to make bread with just 3 ingredients and no yeast. I spent a lot of time looking at recipes and thinking of how I could adapt them with what I have on hand and not repeating dishes so much and boring everyone.
As the rains here let up we realized that the yard needed work and the whole family got out to pull weeds and plant vegetables. It felt good to get out in the dirt and make order of things.
I spent more time meditating, coaching people about dealing with their stress through mindfulness, and recording meditations for clients.
We dug out the old table-top ping pong net and the board games to play together, avoiding CovidTV for the most part.
All in all, beyond the fact that we are deeply worried about the pandemic surrounding us, we are doing quite well, and being together as a family, working through issues and tasks and worry together? That's golden.
When all of this is over, I hope that some of these new habits will continue and we won’t go too quickly back to the hustle and bustle that is endemic in Silicon Valley.
Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could keep a sense of self-awareness and mindful attention to loving life?
It’s the little things, it turns out, that bring the most happiness.