Now that the pandemic seems to be on a course to finally work its way out of our world, I am reflecting back on all the projects I began during my shut-in, and find I have a bit of an issue with focus. I’ve always been prone to boredom and have found solace in accomplishment; in other words, I tend to have my finger in too many pies and often wish I had the ability to laser-focus all that energy into one expertise.
During the pandemic I began many projects. The biggest is my new podcast with former colleague Jenn Hobby, called The Friendzy. Jenn was my first driveway visitor, and during our socially distanced, masked visit, we came up with the idea to once again do a show together. We then virtually prepared for three months before our launch three months ago.
I had moved prior to the pandemic and had many boxes left over to unpack when the pandemic took hold — what better time to unpack boxes than when you can’t go anywhere? I discovered a third of the boxes contained books, which gave me the idea to begin a book blog called, “You Only Have Your Shelf to Blame.” I was also invited to join a YouTube show with fellow media folk Aurea McGarry and Mark Hayes. The idea was to prove that the three of us from different backgrounds and political opinions could come together and discuss issues without leaving angry. In the emotionally heated environment of 2020, we thought it was a nice change.
My mother passed away during my time at home. During the stress of that loss and the pandemic in general, I began sketching every day to allow the art she loved and taught to lessen my stress level. I framed several pieces and gave them to friends as Christmas gifts, but made sure to keep images of all my sketches for the purpose of creating an online print shop. That project is not yet complete.
I even put together a Speaker’s Kit for when companies felt comfortable again to hire in-person speakers for meetings and conventions. I enjoy speaking to an audience and found I had several topics I could present when the time came.
All of this doesn’t include the projects I was part of for my son’s remote kindergarten efforts. Ambitious, yes. A bit splayed out, also yes.
In my own defense, I was one of the many who got laid off during the quarantine and felt comfortable planting these so-called seeds in my new garden to see which ones would bloom. I also took that opportunity to really allow the pandemic to force me to address the things I loved and didn’t like about the world I had created for myself.
Following the pandemic, I’ve come to two conclusions. First, there is no conclusion. There is no “finish line” or “safe space” we all can hide in to say safe, no perfect job or perfect home. We simply have to allow ourselves to really live, to experience things as they happen, rather than waste years regretting what we didn’t do. Second, I need to hire a personal assistant to keep up with all my stuff.