5 Things I've Learned The Past Year Living In A Pandemic

I’m a person who craves control.  Shocking, I know.

I love being on time (which means being ridiculously early), following a schedule, and knowing where my feet are going to land next.

Of course 2020 had other plans…

While this certainly hasn’t been the easiest 365 days, I’m taking a look back and sharing 5 things I’ve learned that I hope always stick with me for the long haul, that give you a renewed sense of energy as we hit the year mark of our pandemic anniversary.

1- Nourish and move your body.

I sure learned this one the hard way through a lot of ice cream indulgences and a sudden halt in climbing 500 subway steps a day.  

Our bodies are amazing, and before the pandemic (aside from maybe the birth of my daughter), I never really took the time to acknowledge just how much they do for us.  

Yes, I have a physical job, but I always thought that was enough.  Being in quarantine while so many were at battle saving lives or fighting for them, my husband and I looked at each other and felt a guttural responsibility to pull our weight.

If not now, when?  

We quickly vowed to get up to speed on our doctor checkups, prioritize our health, and start to really nourish our bodies.  Through a year of unending uncertainty my body has kept me alive and well, and for that I owe it so very much!  

2- Friends and family are everything.

I’m an ENFJ, so being around people energizes me. 

While I love down time to reset, not being able to go out and surround myself with the people I love or hug my clients has been tough on this extrovert. 

But no matter your Myers-Briggs personality type, we are a social species. We need each other.

Leaning on our family and friends has been the single most important thing through these times. 

I recognize how fortunate I have been to be able to squeeze my little family and snuggle my daughter at night, and that others have not had that luxury, or have had to combat isolation in a much more difficult way. 

Losing several people we love this year (both to the virus and to the isolation) has changed us in a way I’m not even able to fully comprehend. Having the support of our friends and family via Zoom or FaceTime has given us strength, laughs, and kept our spirits alive.

3- We have all we need. 

I have always erred on the side of minimalism (even as I stare down my daughter’s overflowing bin of Fisher-Price Little People), but with my husband’s job on Broadway on pause for a full year, we have had to reframe what is most important to us. 

Having a roof over our heads, having food on the table, having one another… nothing is more important than that. 

Being on a quasi-spending freeze has actually felt quite liberating!  Not having to keep up with the latest fashion trends (hurray for zooming in your sweats!), and getting crafty in the kitchen instead of defaulting to ordering in… it’s given us an opportunity to really check in with our values and what our “stuff” means to us.

In doing a little editing of our own, we’ve cleared our minds and our closets!  Donating items to friends and organizations (from clothing to toys to furniture pieces), has lifted some of the stagnant energy that clutter always brings. We even upgraded our bedroom wardrobe storage as a little gift to our home to better serve our needs.

4- Self care does not equal self indulgence.

Admittedly, this is always a work in progress for me.

Logically I know how important it is to secure your own oxygen mask before helping others, but mom guilt always manages to slowly creep in. 

This year forced me to rip that bandaid and reevaluate my self care for my own mental health. 

For it turns out that when I ignore it, what transpires is a less than wonderful version of me, which in turn benefits no one. 

So when the little voice inside of me (hopefully one day it will learn to speak even louder) tells me it’s time for a break, or to check in with myself, I do. 

Walks, fresh air, “spa” time, time behind a closed door or with a good book, attention to a hobby, singing in the shower, or simply staring into oblivion…

It’s all important and should never be labeled as something extra we do for ourselves, but something that is required for our own self-preservation in order to prevent exhaustion and burnout.

5- Life is flexible.

None of us could have ever pictured a world in which we were always behind a computer screen for work, school, weddings, funerals, and everything else in between. 

But our ability to quickly adapt and embrace these changes has shown our resilience and how flexible life truly is!

We are slowly re-entering the world as humans with a changed perspective, and the rules of the game have certainly changed. 

As someone who loves long term goals and plans, I’ve learned that those micro goals (from point A to B) are the MOST important, for they allow you the structure of forward movement while giving you the wiggle room to be open to an abundance of possibilities.

Planning every detail may be incredibly useful in my work, but in my life, I want that wiggle room to remain! For life is far too precious to say yes when you mean no, or to live in any other moment than what is in front of you.