What if We Went Back to Better?
"I'm so tired of the quarantine. I can't wait until we get back to normal!"- Everyone on the Planet, 2020
But here's a thought...
What if normal was broken?
I work with a business coach and he said "I have to be honest- this is the best you've sounded in the past 10 years."
(This was before my near meltdown last week where I simply wanted to run down the street naked and lick a streetlight while taunting the 'rona. It was a rough week.)
But honestly, I've gone for more walks Taken more swims. Paced my work week.
We always try to eat dinner together as a family- we normally can do it 4-5 times a week. Now we do it every night.
And Sunday brunch has become a treat.
We make sure we're getting sunshine.
I've been sewing and spending time in my garden and baking and sharing all of this with neighbors and friends- things I didn't have time for before.
I really started thinking about what "normal" was when we talking about what school would look like next year. Assuming there is no vaccine by August (a safe assumption), will the kids go in shifts? I threw out a schedule of MWFTR- stay home every other day for high school and middle school students. My son said that wouldn't work. And I argued back (because I relish the opportunity to argue with my teenagers) how does he know it wouldn't work? After all, isn't the US school schedule based on an agrarian culture? What if we did use year round school like most countries do? Clearly, public education in the US has been challenged- why not mix it up? What a great opportunity we've been given to try some new things.
My work life has changed. My biggest challenge in working from home is that I NEVER MOVE. I'm in skype meeting after skype meeting with a Zoom or a WebEx thrown in for good measure. I've online trained- my continuing education requirements should be good for the next 2 years-- not a joke. In my office, we move more. I greet clients. We chat in the lobby. I have a standing desk.
At home, I get sucked into my work and then it's late and I have barely moved. My FitBit thought I was sleeping once. Working from home a few days a month is good for me-- every day, not the best.
What if some kids would do better NOT being in school from 9-3, 5 days a week, at a desk? What if some kids do learn better on the computer? What if we mixed it up? I don't know but what we were doing wasn't working so what do we have to lose?
When I was learning about adult education and how to teach adults how to read, I learned that you are primarily a visual, auditory or tactile learner but you learn best when it's mixed up. When I taught a financial class at the university, we took a lot of breaks, worked on cases as a class, had individual quizzes and I lectured. The other instructors did straight lectures. Guess whose students performed best? (That would be mine)
And in my professional career, I was happiest and most efficient when I worked part time from home and part time at the office- it kept it fresh and new.
This has been a shake up to the status quo.
The daily grind wore me down. My kids were wearing down. My husband was wearing down.
And suddenly there was this reprieve. And we went for walks and road bikes. And school work became interesting because it was optional and was to learn and not to simply be tested and quantified.
And work is about what needs to be done and truly asking "How are you?" and meaning it.
And there are the same hours in the day and while the days do blend together they seem to include more time.
But what if we could keep some of it? The good parts.
I miss the games, friends, dinners out- I really miss haircuts- but I don't want to lose some of the peace that has come with this experience.
What if we could live on less?
What if we still took the time to breathe each day?
What if we placed staying alive on the top of the priority list again?
What if we kept reaching out to our neighbors and family?
What if we kept making sure to get 15 minutes of sunshine?
What if work was less a grind of time and more an accomplishment of duties?
What if we didn't go back to normal?
What if we went back to better?
But here's a thought...
What if normal was broken?
I work with a business coach and he said "I have to be honest- this is the best you've sounded in the past 10 years."
(This was before my near meltdown last week where I simply wanted to run down the street naked and lick a streetlight while taunting the 'rona. It was a rough week.)
But honestly, I've gone for more walks Taken more swims. Paced my work week.
We always try to eat dinner together as a family- we normally can do it 4-5 times a week. Now we do it every night.
And Sunday brunch has become a treat.
We make sure we're getting sunshine.
I've been sewing and spending time in my garden and baking and sharing all of this with neighbors and friends- things I didn't have time for before.
I really started thinking about what "normal" was when we talking about what school would look like next year. Assuming there is no vaccine by August (a safe assumption), will the kids go in shifts? I threw out a schedule of MWFTR- stay home every other day for high school and middle school students. My son said that wouldn't work. And I argued back (because I relish the opportunity to argue with my teenagers) how does he know it wouldn't work? After all, isn't the US school schedule based on an agrarian culture? What if we did use year round school like most countries do? Clearly, public education in the US has been challenged- why not mix it up? What a great opportunity we've been given to try some new things.
My work life has changed. My biggest challenge in working from home is that I NEVER MOVE. I'm in skype meeting after skype meeting with a Zoom or a WebEx thrown in for good measure. I've online trained- my continuing education requirements should be good for the next 2 years-- not a joke. In my office, we move more. I greet clients. We chat in the lobby. I have a standing desk.
At home, I get sucked into my work and then it's late and I have barely moved. My FitBit thought I was sleeping once. Working from home a few days a month is good for me-- every day, not the best.
What if some kids would do better NOT being in school from 9-3, 5 days a week, at a desk? What if some kids do learn better on the computer? What if we mixed it up? I don't know but what we were doing wasn't working so what do we have to lose?
When I was learning about adult education and how to teach adults how to read, I learned that you are primarily a visual, auditory or tactile learner but you learn best when it's mixed up. When I taught a financial class at the university, we took a lot of breaks, worked on cases as a class, had individual quizzes and I lectured. The other instructors did straight lectures. Guess whose students performed best? (That would be mine)
And in my professional career, I was happiest and most efficient when I worked part time from home and part time at the office- it kept it fresh and new.
This has been a shake up to the status quo.
The daily grind wore me down. My kids were wearing down. My husband was wearing down.
And suddenly there was this reprieve. And we went for walks and road bikes. And school work became interesting because it was optional and was to learn and not to simply be tested and quantified.
And work is about what needs to be done and truly asking "How are you?" and meaning it.
And there are the same hours in the day and while the days do blend together they seem to include more time.
But what if we could keep some of it? The good parts.
I miss the games, friends, dinners out- I really miss haircuts- but I don't want to lose some of the peace that has come with this experience.
What if we could live on less?
What if we still took the time to breathe each day?
What if we placed staying alive on the top of the priority list again?
What if we kept reaching out to our neighbors and family?
What if we kept making sure to get 15 minutes of sunshine?
What if work was less a grind of time and more an accomplishment of duties?
What if we didn't go back to normal?
What if we went back to better?
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