Like many people, I have been working at home the past several weeks. I have found that it is a completely different experience. My day is not consumed, for now, with battling traffic or enduring a long commute. Instead the travel time to my workplace is a walk across the hall from my bedroom to my den, with maybe a circuitous loop through the kitchen.
I’m spending may hours hunched over a computer and looking at two monitors, making appointments, talking to colleagues in team meetings. I’m finding that I can be very productive working at home.
But I’m discovering something else. Amidst all the busyness converting from working in an office to now working at home, other things that I didn’t notice are now becoming more visible.
Right outside my window, I am hearing birds sing. I am seeing a Cardinal or watching my dogs scurrying after a squirrel. Despite all the disheartening news of more people becoming infected with the Coronavirus, or more violence occurring in the aftermath of the protests regarding police brutality, I am finding moments of pause that give time to think, for reflection and to give thanks for life.
No one can predict how long this current trend will continue. We can hope that next year things will resolve more, and that life can return to a pace of a new normal.
However, right now I am enjoying being able to have lunch with my spouse, take time to look out at my back yard and experience what is happening for me in the moment.
Why does it take a pandemic for some people to recognize what is beautiful in the experience of living? For many people, the goal is to make a living, being able to support oneself and one’s family, being able to pay bills. All these realities are important.
Being in quarantine and working at home has allowed for more thoughts to emerge, more creativity to occur with completing tasks. more time to be grateful for health and community.
What will the world learn from this experience? What will I learn from this experience?
Hopefully not to take anything for granted. Those who work in public health and who protect us all regarding our health and our environment need to be celebrated. We need to be rededicated to working for the common good for all. Perhaps, we need to be less selfish, less self-absorbed.
We can only hope that some behaviors can be practiced and learned by people. Hopefully, we can see more compassion, more sharing of resources and more commitment to beauty and healing that we all deserve.
New Orleans musician Trombone Shorty proclaims
“Show Me Something Beautiful “
That’s what I need.
That’s what the world needs
Right now.
May It Se So.