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One year ago today, my wife and I went on a date night to our favorite restaurant, Ingo’s Diner in Santa Monica. The NBA and NHL were just shutting down, and we realized that it might be the last time for a long while that we could go out. The restaurant was packed, and a teenager near our table was coughing. We felt increasingly uncomfortable, and it hit home that everything was going to change. That was the weekend we started social distancing, and we haven’t eaten indoors since.
Any optimistic or positive discussion connected to the COVID-19 pandemic must begin with a few acknowledgments. 2.6 million people have died from the disease so far, and many more have suffered brutal and sometimes life-altering sicknesses. Daily life for the past year has been suffused with a sense that we are living through a strange, dark moment in history.
I haven’t been able to see my family in Michigan for more than a year, and Nora and I had to cancel our wedding (twice), but those are minor inconveniences compared to what others have gone through.
I was personally fortunate enough to avoid the disease and to have had a stable and secure job that allowed me to work from home. Given my privileged position, I am tempted to self-censor to avoid a post that might seem tone-deaf. But I’ll take that risk and admit that not everything about the pandemic year was terrible for me. Here are a few of the things that went well:
Finding an excuse to reconnect with old friends. I have always remained close with my friends from high school and college, but distance and time fray all ties. The pandemic gave me an excuse to set up Zoom calls and otherwise reconnect with many people close to me. For example, we started a weekly poker game in which which we would play cards on Donkhouse while chatting over Zoom. I now talk far more often with several old friends in Michigan and elsewhere.
Learning to be content at home. Before the pandemic, I felt too restless to work at home and developed a belief that I couldn’t do it. Since college, I have done nearly all of my remote work, reading, and writing at coffeeshops and bars. With those options gone, I finally had to learn to create a comfortable workspace at home and learn to be productive there. I bought lamps to brighten my office, cleared off a bookshelf to create a makeshift standing desk, and used pomodoro timers and tactile aids like stress balls and foot massagers to train myself to sit still and work.
Spending time with the pets. A day will soon come in which Nora goes back to work and I resume some version of my old routines. Our pets, like pets around the world, are going to be heartbroken at the change. I’ve gotten used to our dog Charlie coming into my home office every afternoon to inquire about a walk, and to taking her on long daily treks around the neighborhood.
Gaining a new appreciation for outdoor socializing and activities. Living in LA allowed us to keep seeing family by moving all events outdoors to patios and parks. I suspect that habit will continue after the pandemic is over.
Remembering how much fun gatherings such as concerts and weddings are. I’ll never take events like this for granted again.
Learning a new tolerance for errands such as dentist appointments and haircuts. I have always dreaded and resisted errands. But going six-plus months without a haircut gave me a new appreciation for that sort of self-maintenance.
For those who do not know me, I am an attorney and educator in Los Angeles who is committed to lifelong learning and growth. If you’d like to receive my new posts by email, please click the button below to subscribe. Subscriptions are free unless you choose to pay: