Lessons from my COVID bubble

Sometimes I feel like I am the only one who truly enjoyed staying in my COVID bubble—not that I enjoyed worrying about getting sick or worse, but I truly enjoyed the slower pace of life and staying home with my family.

I guess I’ve always been somewhat of a homebody and keeping commitments, other than family ones, has been a struggle for me too. I just don’t like feeling boxed in or spread too thin.

When you work a full-time job, the last thing you want is every minute of your free time blocked off. At least that’s how I feel. I only have one child and she’s not into sports—thank God—so we have lots of downtime on the weekends.

With much of the workforce now returning to the office and life returning back to "normal", I can't help but feel sad. I am lucky enough to work for a company that allows me to work remotely on a permanent basis, so this doesn't really affect me. But, the expectations to come out of hiding and meet friends for lunch or dinner are strong and I am not sure I'm ready for that.

I've always been someone who values spending quality time with one or two friends and I've never enjoyed being in a room full of people. My wedding day is a great example of the latter.

Don‘t get me wrong, it was one of the best days of my life. It was also surreal (and stressful) in that it was the first time—and probably the last—when I shared a room with everyone from all phases of my life. Co-workers and managers throughout the years, aunts, uncles, cousins, lifelong friends from school, and college roommates. It was a great day but I wore myself out making sure I spent equal time with everyone.

At this point in my life, I truly treasure quiet days at home with my family, and I really don’t understand why everyone has to schedule something for every spare minute they have. When did everyone become so obsessed with “busyness?”

I think the pandemic helped remind people of what really matters in life. It’s not how much money you have in the bank, the material things you acquire, or how many things you check off your daily list. It’s the people you love and enjoy spending time with. I hope people don’t lose sight of that. I know I won’t.